SWIMMING

• A good exercise - Swimming is a good exercise. All should know how to swim. It is a healthy exercise. It is also very delightful.
• Villagers know swimming - Many boys living in towns do not know how to swim. They use tap water from their childhood. They are afraid of taking a bath in a pond or in a river. But in the villages almost everyone knows how to swim. In villages, there are ponds, rivers and canals. Everyone has to take his or her bath in them. In some districts, during the rainy season people have to go from one place to another by boat. Here it is necessary for them to know how to swim. Every little child in a village can swim in ponds and rivers. 
• Swimming in a big town- In a big town like Kolkata, there are big ponds for swimming. There are many swimming clubs in Kolkata. These clubs teach boys and girls how to swim. Grown-up men also practise swimming in the ponds. Many people swim in rivers. But it is not always safe. There are crocodiles and sharks in some rivers. Sometimes they kill and eat up men. Swimming competitions— Swimming competitions are now-a-days held in many places. Boys and girls are thus encouraged to learn how to swim. The name of Bula Chowdhury, a Bengalee lady, may be mentioned in this connection. She has earned fame as an expert swimmer. Some Bengalees have earned great fame as able swimmers. The names of Prafulla Ghosh, Jnan Chatterjee and Robin Chatterjee may be mentioned in this connection. Some of them swam continuously for sixty hours or more. Several Bengalees have won international fame as swimmers by successfully crossing the English Channel. One of them is a lady named Arati Saha (Gupta). The other three are Sri Mihir Sen, Dr. Bimal Chandra and Sri Brojen Das. Sri Mihir Sen, swam across the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka and then the Straits of Gibraltar connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Then he crossed the Panama Canal from one end to the other. No body else has been able to do this. He had added glory to India. We have now the names of other Indians who have won the glory of crossing the English Channel. They are Avinas Sarang, Bijoy Jain, Taranath Shenoy, Sailesh Khilji, Arati Pradhan, Anita Sood and Rajiv Gadgil, Shenoy of Bombay is deaf and dumb. He is first handicapped person to have the honour of crossing the English Channel. Arati Pradhan, a fourteen-year old girl of Thane in Maharastra, has got this honour. Anita Sood of Maharastra' swam across the English Channel in record time of 8 hours and 15 minutes. Prior to this she was successful in Marathon swimming between Capon and Naples in Italy. She shattered the 13 year old world record. Bula Chowdhury whose name has been mentioned in the last paragraph and Abhijit Rao, a student of class IX have also crossed the English Channel, Abhijit is the youngest of them all. He has also successfully completed swimming the 81 kilometre race on the Bhagirathi arranged by Murshidabad Swimming Association of West Bengal. Sanjiban Mandal, father of four children, has stood first successively for three years in this long distance swimming competition. Bula Chowdhury has recently added more feathers to her cap by crossing five other channels in Europe; special mention must be made of the name of Motiyar Rahaman, the handicapped young swimmer of Bengal, who in spite of having lost both his legs in boyhood, has recently crossed the English Chanel by dint of his grit and determination. We are all proud of these swimmers, specially of the three girls. The 44th National Aquatic Championship was held in October, 1988 at Subhas Sarobor in Kolkata. Swimmers, men and women, who did well were Bula Chowdhury (formerly of Bengal and now of Bihar, as she is now an employee of TISCO at Jamshedpur in Bihar, Lorraine Verghees of Karnataka, Sonali Rege and Pallavi Shetty of Maharastra, Urmilla Chettry and Mun Mun Dey Chowdhury of West Bengal. Mani Kankana of Haryana, Olympian Khanjan Singh of the Police, Milind Soman of the Railways, Gaurav Kapoor and P. Sanal Kumar of Maharastra.
• A unique Marathon Swim- Eight brave young members of the Tata Steel Company under the leadership of Nirmal Pandey, did an outstanding job in completing a marathon swim along the Ganga from Haridwar to Kolkata. It took them 70 days to swim 2300 kilometres starting on September 1,1990 and finishing at 11.45 a.m. pn Saturday, November 10, 1990, near the Man of War Jetty in Kolkata. This expedition was the first of its kind in India. The swimmers had undergone training under Miss Bachendri Pal, who shot into publicity lime-light by climbing to the summit of Mount Everest. 
• Usefulness - Swimming is a good exercise. Swimming in the morning or in the evening or on a hot day is very pleasant. It improves our health, because the arms and legs are well exercised. Bathing in the sea is very good for health. Many people go to Puri, Waltair, Digha and other places on the seashore to take a bath in the seawater. They swim in the sea. It is a great tonic. In England, there are many famous places for sea bathing. Hundreds of men and women flock there during holidays. If we can swim well, we can travel in a boat or on a steamer without fear. If the boat sinks, we can save our lives by swimming. Many people cannot swim. Hence some of them are drowned. We can also save the lives of others if we can swim well. Everyone ought to learn swimming. It may help us in many ways.