Sucheta Deb Burman, a 39-year-old Indian swimmer, attempted her longest swim in her career, but had to give up 53 km into the 62 km two-way crossing of the Palk Strait two years ago.
But she refocused and trained hard enough to finally complete the 62 km two-way crossing of the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka in 19 hours 21 minutes in 2023.
The first successful double crossing by an Indian woman started at 4:56 pm on March 15th at the Dhanushkodi Old Harbour in India. She swam to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, turned around, and finished at 12:17 pm the next day on March 16th landing at Arichal Munai in India. Rajendra Peter Fernando was her escort pilot, Simporiyan Peter was the co-pilot, Thatheyu Peter, Alen Ashokan, Kishok Nayakam Rajendran, and Yasten Rajendran served as support crew members with Rajesh Samathanam as the observer for the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.
Samathanam wrote in his official report, “She previously attempted this crossing in March 2022, but she had to give up at the 53 km point due to a shoulder injury. But she set a one-way 30 km crossing record from Dhanushkodi in India to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka in 10 hours 9 minutes. Disappointed by her failure, she trained harder and came back to complete her unfinished swim. To practice for this mentally, emotionally, and physically challenging swim in January 2023 starting at 2:00 am, she swam 40 km in 7 hours and 26 minutes from Bandra Worli Sea Link to Elephanta in Mumbai.
On March 15th on the night of her successful two-way crossing, around 8:00 pm to 4:00 am through the night, the Strait was very rough. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction and waves her pushing her back.
We had to take out the boat light. After 11:00 pm, we had to take out her body light too. She was encountering many fish that came close to her and biting her. She was swallowing lots of sea water and was constantly vomiting because of that. She was struggling, tired, and was not able to drink water or swallow gels.
The dinghy boat was rocking very badly and we were not able to be very close to her. The boatman was whistling so she could hear us and follow the sound of the whistles.
I am very impressed to say , even when the seas got rough and she was scared, she showed fighting strength and determination to complete her swim. I am proud to add, she is the only Indian woman to be successful in completing a two-way of the Ram Sethu/Palk Strait.“
Burman gave a talk at the TEDxYouth@AUS earlier this year:
Berman is a National Institute of Sports- and Sports Authority of India-certified swimming coach who founded the Open Water Swimmers’ Foundation (OWSF), a non-profit organization and open water swimming community where she coaches, trains, and promotes safe swimming while cleaning open bodies of water. For more information, visit openwaterswimmersfoundation.in.
She explains her passion for and dedication to swimming, “I have been coached by my father since I was 4 years old. He is still my coach; he has helped me grow to be passionate, ambitious, disciplined with a healthy mind to be able to endure unpredictable
weather and rough water. Through all these experiences, hard work, and training, I swim with a smile, enjoy every stroke, evolve and embrace the physical pain and fatigue. Swimming makes me a better person every day.
My heart lies in being the Founder and Secretary of the Open Water Swimmers’ Foundation in Bangalore where we coach, train, and promote safe swimming while cleaning open water bodies. It is my way of giving back to nature as she lets me swim, train, and strive towards being a better swimmer.”
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