At 14 Gauravi Singhvi is First to Cover 48km at a Stretch in Open Sea

14-year-old swimmer Gauravi Singhvi hailing from Udaipur has become the youngest girl to cover a distance of 48 km in 9 hours and 22 minutes in Mumbai.

This ninth grader's mission commenced from Khardanda in Juhu beach early morning at 3.30 am. She accomplished it by reaching the Gateway of India around 1 pm. Interestingly, she has a record of being the youngest swimmer to have covered 36 kilometres in the Arabian Sea.

Achievements last year

Last year, she had created a record of non-stop swimming by covering a distance of 16.8 km in 3 hours 58 minutes from Governor House to the Gateway of India.

"From last one year, Gauravi has been prasticing regularly for 8 to 10 hours. After this she will be practising for English channel," Coach Mahesh Paliwal said.

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Hurdles on the way

Achieving the feat wasn't a smooth sailing for her. Her mother told TOI how she was bitten by the prawns and fish in the high seas. She also got stuck in the fishermen's net and had to struggle hard to get herself out. She, very valiantly, faced all bad tides.

She also expressed her ecstasy over the fact that she is not only the youngest but first swimmer to cover 48 kilometres at a stretch in the open sea.

Back in Udaipur, Gauravi's classmates, friends and teachers watched her live when she was about to touch the shores. Sweets were distributed and schoolmates danced in joy to celebrate Gauravi's success.

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Gauravi was three years old when she started learning swimming.  The DPS student aspires to become the youngest swimmer to cross the English Channel. For the same, she has been practising daily for 3-4 hours in Lake Fatehsagar for years now.

It is heartening to see young girls like Gauravi striving to prove their mettle in fields that interest them.

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