Hyderabad: A 46-year-old entrepreneur from Hyderabad, G. Syamala, on Friday swam into the record books as only the second woman to swim across the 30-km Palk Strait that separates India from Sri Lanka.
In achieving this feat, Syamala also became the first Telugu woman to not just undertake, but also complete, the daunting task of swimming across the Palk Strait.
According to information reaching here, Syamala set out from Sri Lanka at 4.15 am on Friday and reached Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu after swimming for 13 hours and 43 minutes.
Syamala, who took up swimming just a few years ago, had previously made her mark in the National Open Water Ganga River Swimming Competition, completing 13 km in one hour and 50 minutes.
She also previously represented Telangana in the World Masters Championship in Gwanju, South Korea, organised by the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA) — the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee for holding international water sport competitions.
Syamala trained at the Sports Authority of Telangana State swimming pool at Gachibowli for her latest swimming challenge. She was initially trained by senior IPS officer Rajiv Trivedi, currently the DG Prisons, and a former Palk Strait swimmer himself — he swam from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi in 2011 in 12 hours and 31 minutes — and later by swimming coach Ayush Yadav.
