Rahul Chiplunkar and the Open Water Amateur Aquatics Federation Growing The Sport in India

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Rahul Chiplunkar, founder of the Open Water Amateur Aquatics Federation (OWAAF), announced an update on what he and his colleagues in India have been doing to organize, promote, and professionalize the sport of open water swimming across the world’s most populous country with 1.46 billion people. He says, “These initiatives are driven by our commitment to developing open water swimming as a recognized and respected sport in India.”

Including International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductees like Sri Chinmoy (Class of 2011), Rohan Dattatrey More (Class of 2018), Mihir Sen (Class of 1966), and Taranath Narayan Shenoy (Class of 1986), and ice swimmers from Bhakti Sharma (IISA bio here) to Dhaval Bhimabhai Odedara (IISA bio here), and other Indian notables including C N Janaki, Chhavi Madan, Gunjan Parulkar, Rupali Repale, Barkha Kishore Kedia, Bula Chowdhury, Mayur Mehta, Sufyan Sheikh, Paramvir Singh, Ritu Kishor Kedia, Prabhat Raju Koli, Satendra Singh Lohiya, Srikaanth Viswanathan, Shubham Dhananjay Vanmali, Sayani Das, and Anshuman Jhingran, the history of channel crossings and marathon swimming has seen many Indian swimmers travel the world making their own individual marks.

The Open Water Amateur Aquatics Federation is building upon that international history of success to expand the sport domestically within India.

Khelo India Beach Games, organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India in partnership with the Sports Authority of India, includes open water swimming as a competitive discipline. Chiplunkar was appointed as a committee member for the 2026 Khelo India Beach Games and will lead the technical and organizational aspects of the open water swimming competition under the Swimming Federation of India.

The Open Water Amateur Aquatics Federation ensures competitions adhere to international event protocols, safety measures, athlete categorization, course mapping, and officiating standards. Chiplunkar says, “Our dedicated technical team worked with local stakeholders and officials to deliver a highly organized and successful event—one that has set a benchmark for future open water swimming programs in India.

We offer additional outreach and growth initiatives include establishing training programs for athletes and coaches, establishing regional open water swimming committees, developing guidelines and best practices for grassroots open water events, and advocating for structured athlete pathways from local to national levels.”

Chiplunkar was the swimmer-coach for the 2016 Sea Hawk relay team that included Indian Air Force Wing Commander Paramvir Singh, retired Indian Air Force Sergeant Gullupilli Narhari, Sergeant Ankan Kumar Patel, Indian Air Force Aircraftman Vicky Tokas, Mumbai police sub-inspector Shrikant Palande, and 16-year-old Manav Mehta who completed a 1,031 km swim from the Gate of India in Mumbai to Mangalore in India in 22 days between November 16th and December 8th 2016.