Jiya Rai, a 16-year-old para-swimmer from India with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), successfully swam across the English Channel recently to make a mark as the youngest and fastest to accomplish the feat in the field of para-sports.
Rai swam against the brutal currents and covered the distance of 34 km in 17 hours and 25 minutes to achieve her solo swimming milestone.
In the 150-year history of Channel swimming, Jiya – the daughter of Madan Rai, MC-at-Arms II, Indian Navy – is the first girl with ASD to make the solo crossing. She started her heroic effort on July 28 at Abbotts Cliff, England, and finished at Pte De La Courte-Dune in France in the early hours of July 29. She dedicated her swim to Autism Awareness and in recognition of her endeavour, the English Channel Sea Swimming dedicated July 21-28 as Autism Awareness Week.
The Channel is well-known for its treacherous currents, with water temperature in July around 180 degrees Celsius and hazards of jelly fish and debris lurking about. The Channel is also one of the busiest in terms of shipping traffic of the world, with over 600 tankers, ferries and other vessels crossing daily. Weather conditions change abruptly, making it almost impossible to plan such swimming feats too much in advance.
As per the Channel Swimming Association rules, a swimmer looking to make a mark cannot leave the water or touch the pilot boat or anyone accompanying them in the water. Food and liquids are handed over by the boat crew using a long stick.
MORE LIKE THIS…
Given how tough the challenge is, more people have managed to scale Mount Everest than swim all the way across the English Channel. In the last 100 years, an estimated 1,700 people have undertaken to cross the English Channel.
The next goals on the horizon for Jiya include swimming the Catalina Channel in California, USA, in September 2025 to become first female para-swimmer to accomplish the “Triple Crown” of solo Channel swimming – having already ticked off Palk Strait in 2022 and now the English Channel in 2024.
With the support of her dedicated parents, Jiya is then on mission to cover seven oceans by December 2027 with an eye on winning the first Gold Medal for India in the 2028 Paralympics.
(*With ANI Inputs)
