Google Doodle honours Aarti Saha, first Asian woman to cross the English Channel, on 80th birth anniversary

Woman of many firsts: Google honours swimmer Arati Saha with a doodle.

To commemorate special days or occasions, Google often shares creative doodles. Today, on September 24, the tech giant has done the same and is honouring the trailblazing Indian swimmer Arati Saha on her 80th birth anniversary.

The image shows the doodle shared by Google. (Twitter/@GoogleDoodles)

Taking to Twitter, Google shared the doodle and also detailed about Saha who was a woman of many firsts. Not only was she the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel, but also the first woman to receive the Padma Shri award. Alongside, she was also the youngest member on the 1st Olympic team to represent independent India. Google’s tweet is complete with an image of the doodle, illustrated by Kolkata-based artist Lavanya Naidu, and a link further explaining the achievements of Saha.

Saha was born on this day in 1940 in Calcutta (now-Kolkata) under British India. She covered 42 miles from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England to swim across the English Channel. The route of the feat, achieved on September 29, 1959, is depicted in the doodle. She also represented newly independent India in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland at the age of 11 years.

Take a look at the tweet:

Saha is one such inspirational figure who motivated many women, across the world, to channel their passion to reach new heights. She died on 4 August 1994.