Age and the choppy, cold waters are no deterrents for 72-year-old Gopal Rao, who lead a team of eight swimmers across the English Channel between France and Britain earlier this month.

He was part of the Master Swimming Relay team, comprising six male and two female nation-level swimmers from Bengaluru, which crossed the 36 km long channel in under 15 hours.

While the youngest in the team is aged 35 years, Mr. Rao was the oldest participant. “We were selected by our coach Satish Kumar, who is secretary of the Karnataka Swimming Academy,” he said.

Mr. Rao is the secretary of Sadashivnagar Swimming Club.

Preparation for the feat took nearly six months, spanning sessions in Goa and Mangaluru. However, the warmer tropical waters did little to prepare them for the frigid conditions of the English channel.

“It was very tough in France. Heavy tides made swimming difficult. And, the water was freezing cold,” said Mr. Rao.

Relay swimming sees one person swimming for an hour before another person from the team takes over. The rest of the team and support staff travelled by boat next to the swimmer. The team started at 6 a.m.

They achieved the feat in 14 hours and 52 minutes, and had enough energy to participate in the world Yoga Day celebrations in London the next day.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / June 26th, 2018