MUMBAI: It was exactly 3.56 p.m. on Thursday when the boat reached the shores of the Mangaluru coast. Aboard it was a team of six tired, bruised and extremely happy swimmers, who stepped onto the shore and into the arms of hundreds of Mangalureans waiting eagerly for them. Amidst the applause, the Sea Hawks stood smiling having broken all world records in sea swimming.
The Hindu, in its November 20 edition, had reported how the Sea Hawks, a team of servicemen and civilians, were to set off on the longest relay swimming expedition ever attempted as a tribute to the martyrs of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, and the recent strikes in Uri and Pathankot. The team set off from Gateway of India on November 26 and after swimming in a non-stop relay for 12 days, in which each member swam for an hour, the Sea Hawks completed 1,013 km when they ended their expedition on Thursday.
Extreme effort
Speaking to The Hindu from Mangaluru, Wing Commander Param Vir Singh, leader of the team, said, “We dealt with a rocky coastline, choppy waters and lakhs of jellyfish — which left us cut and bruised — not to mention extreme exhaustion. As there were only six of us, one of us would be in the water every fifth hour. We have been travelling in a low-chassis boat, which helped us in our expedition but also left us drenched most of the time.”
“Before Thursday, the record for the longest six-person open-water swim was held by Night Trains, an American team that completed 505 kilometres, while the record for the longest open-water relay swim, which was conducted by 200 swimmers from Ireland, was for 684.75 kilometres in 2009. The Sea Hawks broke both the records,” said Shekhar Kale, an independent observer from the Swimming Federation of India, who monitored the Sea Hawks’ progress personally.
‘Undying team spirit’
“I believe we made it this far solely due to the responsibility of the tribute we were carrying on our shoulders,and because of our undying team spirit. We kept encouraging each other as each one was only as strong as the others in the team,” Sergeant Narahari added. The team members will now rest for the next 10-15 days, part of which will be spent in Mangaluru, before they return briefly to their homes.
