Sayani Das Wins Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

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The Who’s Who of marathon swimming in India have won the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the Government of India over the years, including 26-year-old Sayani Das (MSF bio here) who crossed the 23 km Cook Strait in 2024 in 11 hours 47 minutes and the 35 km North Channel in 13 hours 22 minutes who won the 2024 Award.

The Award is given to recognize achievements in adventures conducted on land, water, air, and over a lifetime. The National Selection Committee that consists of expert members from various fields of adventure votes under the auspices of the Youth Affairs Secretary.

The awards are given to encourage young people 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.

On January 17th, Das received the Water Adventure (e.g., open water swimming, rafting, scuba diving) Award from the President of India for her contributions to adventure sports in India and for inspiring younger generations to take up adventure sports.

The historical recipients in the Water Category have included:

1995 C N Janaki
1995 Chhavi Madan (MSF bio here)
1996 Gunjan Parulkar
1996 Rupali Repale
2001 Barkha Kishore Kedia (MSF bio here)
2002 Bula Chowdhury (MSF bio here)
2003 Mayur Mehta
2009 Sufyan Sheikh
2011 Bhakti Sharma (IISA bio here)
2014 Paramvir Singh
2015 Ritu Kishor Kedia (MSF bio here)
2016 More Rohan Dattatrey (MSF bio here)
2018 Prabhat Raju Koli (MSF bio here)
2019 Satendra Singh Lohiya
2021 Srikaanth Viswanathan (MSF bio here)
2024 Sayani Das (MSF bio here)

The English-language translation of Das’ citation while receiving the Award from the president of india is, “Ms Sayani Das hails from Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal. She swam the English Channel from England to France in 14 hours 8 minutes, the Rottnest Channel in Australia in 6 hours 42 minutes, the Molokai Channel from Molokai to Oahu in 18 hours 50 minutes, and the Catalina Channel (from Catalina Island to mainland in 12 hours 46 minutes. In recognition of her outstanding achievement and contribution in the field of adventure sports, Ms Sayani Das is presented with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2023 for Water Adventure.”