Indian Pioneer Swimmer Arati Saha Honored with a Google Doodle

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Arati Saha was honored in a Google Doodle, one of 4,000 special, temporary logo alteration on the Google home page.

The Google Doodles commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and people of historical note.

Saha enjoyed quite a swimming career. A promising young swimmer from the age of 4, she represented India and competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games at the age of 12 in the 200m breaststroke. She was primarily a breaststroker and a sprint freestyler, but later competed in open water swimming competitions in the Ganges.

In 1958 at the age of 17, she was inspired to attempt the English Channel by fellow Indian swimmers who both became International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmers Mihir Sen and Brojen Das. Das was the first male finisher at the 1958 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim, finishing in 13 hours 53 minutes. He recommended Saha to the organizers of the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race for the 1959 event.

Dr. Arun Gupta of the Hatkhola Swimming Club, took the initiative in fundraising for Arati’s participation in the 1959 English Channel competition. Jamininath Das, Gour Mukherjee, Parimal Saha, Sambhunath Mukherjee, Ajay Ghoshal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru supported the fundraising campaign.

Saha began her long-distance training in earnest. In April 1959, she swam 8 hours in a pond in Deshbandhu Park and left for English in July 1959, she left for England along with her manager Dr. Arun Gupta. She was also assisted by Dr. Bimal Chandra who represented India in the 1948 London Olympics in the 400m and 1500m freestyle and also competed in the 1959 Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race, finishing in 13 hours 50 minutes.

Saha joined 53 men and 4 other women from 23 countries who competed in the 1959 Billy Butlin race. The large field started at 1 am from Cape Gris Nez on August 27th 1959 at 1 am local time with the goal of finishing in Sandgate, England. Unfortunately, her escort pilot and crew did not arrive in time. But she started later. By 11 am, she came within 5 miles of the England coast, but swam into an oncoming current. Five hours later, she had only swum two more miles, before she aborted her attempt.

Saha dried off, got warm, and prepared herself for a second attempt a month later. On September 29th 1959, she started her second attempt, again from Cape Gris Nez, but she was successful this time, finishing on Sandgate after 16 hours 20 minutes. Her crossing was widely celebrated in India.

In 1960, she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India. In 1999, she was honored by a stamp in India.

Others have also been honored by Google Doodles including Wilhelmina Wylie, the first Australian woman to win a silver medal in Olympic swimming (for more information, visit here), another Australian competitive swimmer pioneer Sarah “Fanny” Durack, and Hawaiian icon Duke Kahanamoku.