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In Mumbai, schoolgirl is riding the waves
Swimming 70 kilometres in the open sea is a task that is daunting for most people, but 14-year-old Aakanksha Mishra intends to achieve this feat and also attempt to beat the existing record of 16 hours.
Swimming 70 kilometres in the open sea is a task that is daunting for most people, but 14-year-old Aakanksha Mishra intends to achieve this feat and also attempt to beat the existing record of 16 hours.
Aakanksha, a Class IX student, began her swim on Wednesday from the Gateway of India here to Dharamtar in Alibag. After reaching there, she will swim back. "The only thing I am slightly worried about are the currents which are not predictable," Aakanksha said.
She credited her decision to swim this distance to her coach and Arjuna Award winner Arti Pradhan. Aakanksha is being accompanied by Pradhan, her mother, friends, and an observer from the Maharashtra State Amateur Aquatic Association in boats.
She will eat chocolates and drink juice and soup to sustain herself during the swim which will continue through the night until Thursday morning. "After this, I intend to swim across the English Channel by the end of the year,” she said.
She had been denied permission earlier for this as she was thought to be very young.
