It takes a bit of self-belief and loads of hard work to swim against odds. Precisely this is what will help five swimmers of Maharashtra to swim from Arnala Fort to Vasai Fort on January 6. The swimmers consist of Prabhat Raju Koli, 20, an international swimmer who had swam six out of seven channels, Rakesh Ravindra Kadam, 22, Kartik Sanjay Gugle, 18, and Shardul Vidyadhar Gharat, 19, these are the promising national swimmers who have won many accolades in the past and Jiya Rai, 12, autism spectrum disorder girl, who is holding world record in open water swimming.
Five swimmers will start the expedition at 7 am in Arabian Sea. President of JD Sports Youth Foundation, Jayant J Duble informed that Kalamb Sports Foundation, Vijay Patil Foundation and Shiv Sena Taluka Vasai have jointly organized this event.
JD Sports Youth Foundation will spread the message of FIT India Movement, Drowning Prevention Awareness and promote open water swimming among the youth and citizens of India through this expedition.
Swimming Association of Maharashtra (SAM), a unit of Swimming Federation of India, will provide technical support and supervise this expedition. Further Jayant Duble added that for this expedition, SAM-appointed Dr Jaiprakash S Duble as chief observer and respective observers from Mumbai for the five swimmers are Subodh Sule, Umesh Utekar, Sanket Sawant, Manish Bhoi, Ajit Marde.
Also Kishor Shetty, Dr Sambhaji Bhonsale, Satish Patil of SAM will accompany in this expedition. Jayant Duble, who is a student of Jyotiba College of Physical Education, Nagpur, is working throughout Maharashtra to aware youth, students and citizens about drowning prevention and FIT India Movement by organising various related programmes.
Swimmers will have to face the odds of sea like jelly fish, salty water and other animals on the way, their chief coach Vidyadhar Gharat told the media. The determination, dedication and hard work of swimmers towards their goal will make the expedition a cakewalk said Raju Koli, mentor and team leader. Sanjay Gugle is making lots of effort to make this expedition a grand success. JD Sports Youth Foundation will held the felicitation ceremony at Vasai Fort.
The Palghar district of Maharashtra have a deep cultures of beaches, fort and other heritage value. This is a first events conducted between two fort in Palghar district. The Arnala and Vasai Fort have their own strategic importance and it provided logistics support to Maratha Navy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
