Courtesy of Fazlul Kabir, Shahpori Island, Bangla Channel, Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.
Extreme Bangla and Shwaroz Adventure jointly organize the 16.1 Bangla Channel Swimming since its inception in 2006.
This year was a record year.
Fazlul Kabir is one of the pioneers of the Fortune Bangla Channel Swimming, a 16.1 km race across the Bangla Channel in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh.
Between 2006 and 2017, Kabir completed the channel crossing five times, but the 14th edition in 2019 was not his year. “I had to abandon my own swim after a couple of hours due to severe hamstring cramp on my right leg. I carried on my swimming with my injurious right leg. But I was unable to recover and had to quit. I felt really devastated.”
But as one of the pioneers, there was a silver lining to his DNF. “Seeing the overall success of the team, I am happy – and am motivated to increase my training to get absolutely ready for a 2-way crossing of Bangla Channel next year.
The Fortune Bangla Channel Swimming 2019 started at 9:45 am from Shahpori Island, Teknaf. A total 34 swimmers including two women participated in the event. 31 swimmers successfully crossed and 3 were unsuccessful – and all previous records were broken.
We had the highest number of swimmers (31) cross the channel in 2019. 13-year-old Ms Shohagi crossed successfully in her debut which made her the youngest female swimmer from Bangladesh to cross the channel. The fastest swim was set by Sajjad Hossain who crossed in time of 2 hours 59 minutes, breaking the previous record was 3 hours 8 minutes by Saiful Islam Rasel. 69-year-old Mr. Shoaib, who lost one of his legs due to polio at the age of 4, crossed in 5 hours 40 minutes in his debut. Md. Al Shad Sarker, a 15-year-old 9th grade student, crossed the channel on his second attempt in 5 hours 38 minutes, making him the youngest male swimmer from Bangladesh to cross the channel. Lipton Sarker successfully completed his 14th consecutive crossing that makes him the holder of greatest number of crossings. Md. Mizanur Rahman who is 67 years old finished his second consecutive crossing.”
Fortune Bangla Channel Swimming 2019 Finishers:
1. Sajjad Hossain 2 hours 59 minutes
2. Md Nayon Islam 3 hours 33 minutes
3. MD. Saiful Islam Rasel 3 hours 50 minutes
4. MD. Moniruzzaman 3 hours 57 minutes
5. Mst. Mitu Akhter 4 hours 5 minutes
6. Mohammad Shamsuzzaman Arafat 4 hours 8 minutes
7. Hemayet Ullah Noor 4 hours 11 minutes
8. Md. Rafiqul Islam 4 hours 16 minutes
9. Sree Sonkor Chondro Bormon 4 hours 18 minutes
10. MD. Mazed Mia 4 hours 26 minutes
11. Abdullah Al Roman 4 hours 29 minutes
12. S.I.M Ferdous Alom 4 hours 30 minutes
13. Mahadi Hasan 4 hours 33 minutes
14. Md Musa Harun 4 hours 47 minutes
15. Sheikh Mahbub Ur Rahman 4 hours 49 minutes
16. Mosaddak Ahmed Tarik 4 hours 50 minutes
17. MD Nahid Hasan 4 hours 51 minutes
18. Jamshedul Alam 4 hours 56 minutes
19. Mst. Shohagi 5 hours 3 minutes
20. Mizanur Rahman 5 hours 13 minutes
21. MD. Abu Taher 5 hours 19 minutes
22. Allama Didar 5 hours 25 minutes
23. MD. Abdullah Al Mamun 5 hours 31 minutes
24. Md. Al Shad Sarker 5 hours 38 minutes
25. MD. Shoib 5 hours 40 minutes
26. Lipton Sarker 5 hours 40 minutes
27. MD. Alamgir 5 hours 43 minutes
28. Muntasir Sami 6 hours 10 minutes
29. Syful Bashar Suja 6 hours 11 minutes
30. Hasibul Hasan Sabuj 6 hours 34 minutes
31. A.H.M Yeakub Ali Jony 6 hours 46 minutes
The slogan of the event is build a drowning free, healthy Bangladesh.
Muntasir Sami [shown above] recalled his 6 hour 10 minute crossing, “If someone told me 2 and a half years ago that I would cross the Bangla Channel, it would have sounded improbable. I couldn’t even swim 25 meters back then. Now I made it possible and I always say that nothing is impossible if you truly believe that. Couldn’t have done it without the support of some amazing people. I’m always grateful to Lipton Bhai, Arafat Bhai for all the motivation and courage. Thanks to Humayun Bhai for taking me to the pond and sometimes joining with me for encouragement. And I can’t express my gratitude to everyone who supported me in my activities. You guys are all part of this success. Hope to do even more things in the future with your support.”
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