3 For 30 Across Adam’s Bridge In The Palk Strait
Courtesy of Edie Hu, Adam’s Bridge, Palk Strait.
British swimmers Adam Moss and Simon Holliday will join American-in-Hong Kong Edie Hu in their triple tandem crossing from Sri Lanka to India in early 2020.
The 30 km stretch across the Palk Strait, otherwise known as Adam’s Bridge between Pamban Island off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka, has been a renowned marathon swim for many decades.
If successful, the trio will join the following swimmers as Palk Strait swimmers:
1954: Murugapillai Navratnaswami (Murugupillai Navaratnasamy) was the first person cross the Palk Strait from Valevettithurai, Sri Lanka to Point Calimere, India on his second 59 km attempt that took 26 hours 50 minutes.
1963: V.S. Kumar Anandan, newphew of Murugapillai Navratnaswami, crossed the Palk Strait from Valevettithurai, Sri Lanka to Point Calimere, India in 42 hours.
April 6th 1966: Mihir Sen crossed 59 km in the Palk Strait in 25 hours 44 minutes.
1974: V.S. Kumar Anandan completed an unprecedented two-way crossing from Talaimannar, Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu, India and then back to Talaimannar in 51 hours.
1980s: Tanarath Narayan Shenoy crossed the Palk Strait.
August 20th 2004: Bula Chowdhury Chakraborty crossed the Palk Strait from Talaimannar, Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu, India in 13 hours 52 minutes on an unprecedented course.
March 2nd 2011: Rajiv Trivedi crossed the Palk Strait in 12 hours 31 minutes, together in a tandem swim with Balasaheb Ramchandra Ghadge.
March 2nd 2011: Balasaheb Ramchandra Ghadge crossed the Palk Strait in 12 hours 31 minutes, together in a tandem swim with Rajiv Trivedi.
2012: S.P. Murleedharan crossed the Palk Strait from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Arichamunai, Dhanushkodi in India in 13 hours 53 minutes. “As an Indian I feel proud to cross Palk Strait from Sri Lanka to India. The conditions were extremely tough for swimming. The sea, pleasant in the initial stage, turned very rough. It forced me to swim against the strong wind and choppy sea.”
Unknown date: C.P. Saravanavadivu from the Palk Strait.
March 24th 2018: Raja Eswara Prabhu crossed the Palk Strait from Talaimannar, Sri Lanka to Arichalmunai, Dhanushkodi, India in 11 hours 58 minutes.
March 25th 2018: M. Tulasi Chaitanya crossed the Palk Strait from Talaimannar, Sri Lanka to Arichalmunai, Dhanushkodi, India in 8 hours 25 minutes.
To report additional attempts and completions of the Palk Strait, please email information to headcoach@openwatersource.com.
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