This 53-year-old woman loves to swim against the tide. And on Sunday she did just that by swimming across the Kochi lake, competing against male swimmers half her age and even less as part of the Cochin Carnival in Fort Kochi.
The competition was to cross the Kochi lake ‘azhimugam’ from Vypeen to Fort Kochi, a stretch of 800 metres.
Manju Jayaprakash was the only woman in the event, which had seven competitors. She came fourth behind Arvind Milan (16), Firoz M J (21) and Safman (21). Though she didn’t make it to the podium, it didn’t take the shine off her fete as the eldest participant after Manju was 32 years old.
Hundreds had gathered to witness the competition. “I was really confident before and while swimming. But once I came close to the finishing point I got a little nervous by seeing the viewer's reaction. Everyone had a stunned and relieved expression,” laughs Manju.
Manju, an entrepreneur working in the share market, is a regular swimmer and an occasional deep sea swimmer. This is the first time the mother of two is participating in a competition.
