Swimming Family Tradition: Mumbai Man Crosses English Channel In 22 Hours

Braving strong sea currents and cold water temperatures, Mumbai's Avinash Thadani completed a solo swim across the English Channel in 22 hours.

The 45-year-old successfully swam across the 32-kilometre-long English Channel, considered one of the toughest open-water swimming challenges, on his second attempt. On August 24, he began his swim from Shakespeare Beach in England and ended it at France's Cap Gris Nez.

Mr Thadani had first attempted to cross the Channel in 2023, but had to quit the swim in 10 hours. "That pushed me to work much harder and get stronger," he told NDTV. A year later, he successfully crossed the stretch as part of a relay team.

The determination to complete the swim solo persisted, pushing Mr Thadani to train at Mumbai's Cricket Club of India pool and the icy waters of Ireland. Apart from working on endurance, he focussed on acclimatisation, as water temperature in the Channel ranges between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius in August.

Earlier this year, he also swam the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka, adding to a long list of endurance feats that includes marathons and an Ironman multi-sport endurance race in Denmark's Copenhagen. "This time, I had so much support and energy from my crew, friends and family that I just couldn't let them down," he said.

After Mr Thadani finally achieved the feat, he told NDTV, "Swimming is a family tradition. My father taught me how to swim when I was six months old. It's what we do as a family." He joined a list of over 60 Indians who have crossed the Channel. Mihir Sen, the first Indian (and Asian), to swim the Channel in 1958 completed the challenge in 14 hours and 45 minutes.

While the shortest ever swim across the Channel has been completed in a little over seven hours, the time has extended up to almost 27 hours owing to several factors, including the current, winds, wave heights, and the occasional jellyfish and seaweed. In addition, the Channel is also one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, witnessing crossings by 600 tankers and 200 ferries daily.