Diving in fearlessly, five-year-old Niveditha did not let the turbulent river or its swirling waters intimidate her.
Accompanied by her coach Saji Valasseril, the tiny tot on Tuesday swam the 600-metre stretch between Adwaithasramam and Manalppuram in just 25 minutes, probably becoming the youngest girl to swim across the Periyar.
Mr. Valasseril has been coaching the girl, a UKG student of Guardian Angels’ Public School, Manjummal, since September this year.
Benefits of swimming
According to him, Niveditha, through her feat, intended to spread awareness on the benefits of learning swimming.
“ The Periyar has been witnessing an increase in the number of drowning deaths over the past few years. The young girl wanted to tell the world that through fierce dedication and hard work, anybody can conquer it,” he said.
Having completed her first mission with ease, Niveditha is raring to take up more such challenges in the future.
For someone who has trained over 600 children in swimming, it was never a risk for Mr. Valasseril to let the child into the river. “I am acquainted with the length and breadth of this river and was confident about completing the task. Besides, precautionary measures, including the service of expert divers, were taken,” he said.
Niveditha used to accompany her father, Sucheendran E.S., when he took her sister Devananda, a Class 8 student, for swimming classes. Her father enrolled her in the class, considering her interest in swimming.
In June last year, Mr. Valasseril had helped a 12-year-old visually challenged boy, Navaneeth, swim across the same stretch by giving him special training of just 12 days.
