Para swimmer Satyendra Singh Lohia conquers Arabian Sea channel

BHOPAL: Adding yet another feather to his cap, Madhya Pradesh's international para swimmer Satyendra Singh Lohia successfully crossed a 36 km long channel in Arabian Sea on Tuesday. Incidentally, it is considered one of the most difficult channels of the sea in India. He along with 3 other swimmers completed the distance in 10 hours three minutes.
Satyendra was accompanied by three other swimmers.These were Rimo Saha from Kolkata, Elvish Hazarika from Assam and Ganesh from Maharashtra.
After completing the distance, Satyendra said, "Today, I have crossed a distance of 36 km from Dharmatar in the Arabian Sea to the Gateway of India in Mumbai with my team. It took 10 hours, three minutes. This challenge is considered to be the boldest attempt to swim in open water in India."
He added, "This part of the Arabian Ocean is full of sharks. Hence, it becomes more adventurous and difficult for the swimmers to cross the channel. Through this challenge, our team wanted to give the message that "disability is not physical; it is just a bad attitude of a person".
A government employee in Indore, he was presented with the Vikram Award in 2014. Satyendra said: "I wanted to convey the message that anyone can do wonders if he puts his heart to it." Satyendra was awarded Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards in 2020. President Ramnath Kovind had presented the award to him on August 29.
This award is presented every year to recognize the achievements of persons in the fields of adventure. Satyendra was selected for the Best Sportsperson of 2019 award. Union ministry for social justice and empowerment had conferred upon him the award New Delhi.
He is the first para-swimmer from Asia to triumph over both the English Channel and Catalina Channel challenges. After crossing the English Channel in 2018, he had crossed Catalina Channel in the USA in April 2019 as part of an Indian para-athlete team. Satendra - who has 70% disability and cannot use his legs - swam the English Channel and made it to the Limca Book of Records.