Aruna Venugopal is a proud alumna of UVCE. She graduated in the year 2000 from Computer Science branch. She became the first Indian Woman to accomplish the Triple Crown, and the oldest Indian Woman to conquer the English Channel. She shared her gritty story on Facebook:
Guess what, folks? On 20th July 2023, I officially became a Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming! Let’s dive into my journey of conquering the iconic English Channel not once, not twice, but thrice in a single season!
First, we have the English Channel, the epic UK to France swim that took place on the 20th of July, 2023. It was a whopping distance of 34 kilometres, and I braved the waters for a grand total of 16 hours and 4 minutes!
Next on the list is the Manhattan 20 Bridges challenge in the good ol’ USA, which happened on the 28th of August, 2019. This time, I swam a whopping 45.6 kilometres in just 8 hours! It’s like a sightseeing tour of Manhattan from water, but way more intense.
And last but not least, we have the Catalina Channel challenge, also in the USA, which took place on the 21st of August, 2019. I covered 32 kilometres in a cool 11 hours and 49 minutes! That’s some serious endurance right there.
Let’s get to the start, my original slot for the EC was between 23-30th of July during the neap tide. However, a slot opened up on Thursday 20th when it was spring tide instead. Now, spring tides aren’t exactly the best choice for solo swimmers. Why? Because the water gets all choppier, rough, and a real challenge to navigate the swim. Trusting my God, my training and my crew, I took this only slot available – no second thoughts – just full-on determination.
My swim started in the midnight when it was pitch dark, with zero visibility. On the boat accompanying with me were the crew (of course!) and my sister Vani. As anticipated the sea was extremely rough & powerful. The marine animals like jellyfish are a constant threat.
It rained heavily during first hour, making it even more challenging. Choppy sea water often made me feel nauseous, disrupting my pace. Chanting the Gayatri mantra and the Iskcon tagline kept me focused both physically and spiritually.
Nutrition is crucial, Vani would ensure this. Every hour I needed feeds and warm water to rinse my mouth that probably had cuts. But the carbohydrate drink and electrolyte were churning in my stomach. And because of the soreness in my mouth, I couldn’t drink even a quarter cup of water. Finally, my body began to acclimatize. But there’s a twist again – I began to enter a whirlpool towards the end. It took me nearly an hour to come out of this.
We soldiered on, and even when the co-pilot kept asking Vani if we should give up, she shut him down like a boss! We were in it to win it, no turning back. It did pay off when we finally saw land after 16 hours of battling the salty waves. The journey wasn’t just physically demanding; it was a true test of mental strength.
Water was quite warm at 17deg when I swam all through that was what I was hoping for and my body was adequately acclimatized. Vani braved the boat ride with me, and trust me the facilities on that boat weren’t even 1 -star. They handed us a bucket to relieve ourselves! Imagine swimming in the dark, with zero visibility, and rough waters trying to push you off course – it’s like a wild dance with the ocean!
Did you know, we swim with only a single V-cut costume, cap and goggles. No buoyancy AID, No wet suit nothing. I follow no stringent training, feed plan, I let my body dictate my workouts. In the end, the Triple Crown was worth all the effort and sacrifices. This was one of the most successful trips with 3 crossings in a swim season, 2 relays and one solo. I am very ecstatic and the reality is yet to sink in.
So, to everyone who supported and encouraged me, thank you from the bottom of my salty, marinated mouth! Without your blessings, this crazy achievement wouldn’t have been possible.
…Until the next aquatic adventure! (Link to her FB Post)
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