Aarti saha swimmer biography

By Zaara D&#;Souza

Arati Saha was a swimming legend, who created history when she became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel, at the young age of Read on to know more about her life.

Childhood

Arati Saha was born in in Kolkata, West Bengal to a middle class family.  She was brought up by her father, as her mother had passed away when she was still a toddler. After her mother’s loss, her elder brother and younger sister were sent off to live in their maternal aunt and uncle’s house, while Arati was left to be brought up by her grandmother in North Calcutta. Panchugopal Saha, her father, would take little Arati along with him and his brother to the city’s popular bathing grounds &#; Champtala Ghat.

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Almost immediately Panchugopal was able to recognise that his daughter had an inclination towards swimming, even at such an early age. He decided to enroll her for proper training at the Hatkhola Swimming Club. As luck would have it, India’s first Asian Games gold medalist, Sachin Nag noticed her one day. He too, immediately spotted her talent and decided to take her under his wing and began training her. After this, Arati dived right into her professional swimming career. 

Accolades

After starting training at just 4 years old, Arati won a gold medal for yards freestyle at the Shailendra Memorial Swimming Competition of , only a year later. With exemplary determination and discipline, she went on to win more than 22 state competitions in West Bengal over the next 6 years. Her game-changing recorded time for her laps allowed her to take part in the Olympics at the mere age of 12, but unfortunately she did not manage to win a stand on the podium. This did not stop her, but only encouraged her to go further. 

The Dream

As she was pushed harder and harder to train, she started to gain more confidence. She soon began to harbour a challenging dre

Arati Saha, a female Indian swimmer, completed a Successful solo swim on 29 September

Arati Gupta (née Saha; 24 September – 23 August ) was an Indian long distance swimmer. Born in Calcutta, West Bengal, British India, Arati was initiated in swimming at the early age of four, and her talent was spotted by Sachin Nag. She was inspired by Indian swimmer Mihir Sen to try to cross the English Channel. In she became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel. In , she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded Padma Shri.

Between and , Arati participated in several swimming competitions. Between and she won 22 state-level competitions in West Bengal. Her main events were metres freestyle, metres breast stroke and metres breast stroke.

In , she participated in the national championship held at Mumbai. She won silver in metres freestyle and metres breast stroke and won bronze in metres freestyle. She made an all-India record in At the West Bengal state meet, she clocked 1 minute seconds in metres breast stroke and broke Dolly Nazir&#;s all-India record. At the same meet, she set new state-level record in metres freestyle, metres freestyle and metres back stroke.

She represented India at the Summer Olympics along with compatriot Dolly Nazir. She was one of the four women participants and the youngest member of the Indian contingent. At the Olympics, she took part in metres breast stroke event. At the heats she clocked 3 minutes seconds. After returning from the Olympics, she lost in metres freestyle to her sister Bharati Saha.

Arati got the first inspiration to cross the English Channel from Brojen Das. At the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race, Brojen Das became the first among the men and earned the distinction of being the first person from the Indian subcontinent to cross the English Channel. Greta Andersen, a Danish-born female swimmer from United States clocked 11 hours and 1 minute and stood first among both

Indian swimmer

Arati Gupta (born Arati Saha; 24 September – 23 August ) was an Indian long-distance swimmer who became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel on 29 September , at the age of In , she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India.

Early life

Arati Gupta was born in Kolkata, India, as the second of three children and the first of two daughters to Panchugopal Saha in Her father was an employee of the Indian Armed Forces. Her mother died when she was two and a half years old. Her elder brother and younger sister, Bharati, were raised at their maternal uncle's house, while she was raised by her grandmother in North Kolkata. At the age of four, she accompanied her uncle to the Champatala Ghat, where she learned to swim. Her father, Panchugopal Saha, then enrolled her in the Hatkhola Swimming Club. In , at the age of five, she began her swimming career, winning first place in the yard freestyle at the Shailendra Memorial Swimming Competition.

Career

State, National Sports, and Olympics

Between and , Saha won 22 state-level competitions in West Bengal. Her main events were the metre freestyle, the metre breaststroke, and the metre breaststroke. In , she participated in the national championship held in Mumbai. She won silver in metre freestyle and metre breaststroke and won bronze in metre freestyle. She set an all-India record in At the West Bengal state competition, she clocked 1 minute, seconds in metre breaststroke and broke Dolly Nazir's all-India record. At the same meet, she set the new state-level record in metre freestyle, metre freestyle, and metre backstroke.

Saha represented India at the Summer Olympics alongside Dolly Nazir. She was one of four women participants a

Within a few years of starting to swim at the Hatkhola Swimming Club, Arati Saha had become a swimming star. People would come to watch her swim, and wonder how a little one could swim so fast and so perfectly.

Her days fell into a perfect routine – wake up early for swimming practice, get back home and get ready for school. Then she would return home, go to swim again, return home, finish studies, chat with her cousins or watch her aunts prepare dinner. They would eat dinner and go to bed. By bedtime, Arati would be so tired that she would fall asleep in no time. But in a few years, she had improved by leaps and bounds. It was time to test her “real” talent. It was time for competitions.

At Hatkhola Club, there were internal competitions to train the children for contests outside. Freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly – Arati was at ease in every form. It was as if she were dancing in the pool – a perfect symphony of breathing along with arm and leg movements.

In , when she was still five years old, she won a gold medal in yard freestyle at the Shailendra Memorial Swimming Competition in Calcutta. That was the beginning of her swimming career. Over the next few years, Arati went on a winning streak, travelling to various parts of the country and within West Bengal to participate in swimming competitions. During these trips, officials from the Hatkhola Club would accompany their team. Arati enjoyed travelling – there were so many things to watch through the train windows! She hoped to travel far – very far.

In , educationist John Drinkwater Bethune had set up the Bethune School (the Calcutta Female School). It was a watershed event in the history of women’s education in India. He had the support of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar among other leading educationists. The Bethune College was set up in This was the first college for women in India. Thanks to education