Gunjan Parulkar, A Precocious Indian Swimmer

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Open water swimmers throughout the world have been honored by their national governments for their contributions to their country, including those in India who are receive the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.

This prestigious award in India was formerly known as the National Adventure Awards and is the highest adventure sports honor of the Republic of India, awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for outstanding achievement in the field of adventure activities on land, sea and air.

Purpose

A National Selection Committee, consisting of experts from various fields of adventure, vote under the auspices of the Youth Affairs Secretary. The award is given to encourage young people in India to develop the spirit of endurance, risk-taking, cooperative teamwork, and the quick and effective reflexes in challenging situations, and to provide incentives to get exposed to adventurous activities.

Namesake

The award is named after Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer and one of the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest along with Edmund Hillary in 1953. The award consists of a bronze statuette, a certificate, a blazer with a silken tie/a saree and an award money of Rs. 15 Lakh.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award Open Water Swimming Recipients

The current list includes many past and current luminaries in the world of open water swimming.

1995 C N Janaki, a disabled English Channel relay swimmer
1995 Chhavi Madan, a young channel swimmer
1996 Gunjan Parulkar, a channel swimmer
1996 Rupali Ramdas Repale, a channel swimmer
2001 Barkha Kishore Kedia, a channel swimmer
2002 Bula Chowdhury Chakraborty, a channel swimmer
2003 Shri Mayur J. Mehta, a channel swimmer
2009 Sufyan Sheikh, a channel swimmer (shown above)
2011 Bhakti Sharma, a channel and ice swimmer
2014 Paramvir Singh, a marathon relay swimmer
2015 Ritu Kishor Kedia, a marathon swimmer
2016 Rohan Dattatrey More, an Oceans Seven and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame swimmer
2018 Prabhat Raju Koli, a Triple Crowner and channel swimmer
2019 Satendra Singh Lohiya, a disabled channel swimmer
2021 Srikaanth Viswanathan, a Triple Crowner
2021 Shubham Dhananjay Vanmali, Oceans Seven swimmer and Triple Crowner

Gunjan Parulkar

Gunjan Parulkar [shown above and below] was a precocious open water swimmer who won the 1996 Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.

Her first major swim as a 13-year-old was completed in December 1995 when she swam 19 km between Thane to Vashi, Maharashtra in her native India in 3 hours 3 minutes.

Then she went on a tear the next year at the tender age of 14. Among her many swims were the following:

In January 1996, she swam 36 km in the Arabian Sea from Dharmatar to Gateway of India in Maharashtra in 8 hours 56 minutes
In August 1996, she competed in the 26 km International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Schwimmen in Lake Zurich, Switzerland finishing in 10 hours 12 minutes
In August 1996, she was part of a 6-member relay called Thane District Amateur Aquatic Association that crossed the English Channel in 11 hours 23 minutes
In August 1996, she completed a tandem swim across the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar with Rashmi Sansare in 5 hours 7 minutes