Child prodigies swim 22 km in Arabian Sea

Mumbai, Nov 11 (UNI) Limca Book of Records holder and would-be recipient of the Bal Gaurav Puraskar, Pooja Bhangire and another child prodigy swimmer Akshat Bhargava swam a distance of 22 kms non-stop in the Arabian Sea as a ''tribute to late Sunil Dutt'' here today.

The two child prodigies started swimming at 0500 hrs from Revas and reached Gateway of India where MP Priya Dutt, Mumbai Sheriff Vijaypat Singhania and Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Baba Siddique received them.

Nine-year-old Akshat covered the distance in six hrs and 10 mins, while seven-year-old Pooja took six hrs and 22 mins to complete the same distance.

In Dec 2004, Pooja swam the 12 km stretch from Mora (Uran) to Gateway of India in a record time of fix hrs and 21 mins. She was feted by the then Union Sports Minister Sunil Dutt and awarded a cash prize of Rs 25,000 from the Nargis Dutt Foundation. She was also invited to participate in the Republic Day parade in January last year. Pooja will also be felicitated by the Prime Minister on November 14 and be conferred the Bal Gaurav Puraskar at Bal Bhavan in New Delhi for her record-breaking feat achieved in December 2004 at the age of five years and 5 months, thus becoming the youngest swimmer to enter the Limca book of Records.

The two child prodigies are training under ace swimming coach and Arjuna awardee Arti Pradhan. Arti is the first and the youngest woman in the world to swim the English channel in 1987-88. She set a world record for being the first woman in the world to swin the Strait of Gibraltar in 1988.

Arti said, ''We will be eternally grateful to late Mr Sunil Dutt for his dedicated efforts in recognizing and appreciating Pooja's feat. It is indeed very rare to have someone of his stature take such keen interest in Pooja despite his busy schedule. The memory of him braving the hot sun and encouraging Pooja during her swim for close to three hours, will forever be etched in our memory. Hence we have dedicated this swim to him.'' She added,''Our aim is to establish Pooja and Akshat as swimmers of international caliber in the near future. It is rare to have such determination, mental strength and competitive spirit at such a young age. Both these kids have these attributes in ample and with the right kind of guidance and encouragement can become future stars for the country.'' UNI XR-KU SS PDS GC2111