IN WHAT will be a first of its kind sea swimming expedition in the country, city’s blind girl Ishwari Pande will attempt to swim 16km from Elephanta in Arabain Sea to the famous Gateway of India in Mumbai. “Ishwari will take plunge in the water on February 2 at 6.00 am. She will be accompanied by a host of pace swimmers including Sukhdev Dhurve, Ishant Pande, Vilas Fale, Sandip Vaidya, Ravindra Tarare and Shankar Ashtankar.“Swimming Association’s Neelkanth Akhade will be the Observer for the event,” informed swimming coach Sanjay Batwe during a press conference.

 

“This will be for the first time that a blind swimmer is attempting such a distance and Ishwari hopes to find a place in the Asian Book of Records,” he informed. A seasoned swimmer, Ishwari had crossed city’s Ambazari Lake in 2021. In the same year, she successfully completed 5km and 1km in sea swimming competition held at Porbandar in Gujarat.

For her latest expedition, Ishwari has been practising in cold Ambazari waters for 4-5 hours daily under international swimming coach Sanjay Batwe’s watchful eyes. Batwe will be leading the team in her latest adventure. Shark Aquatic Sporting Association (SASA), Hanuman Sports Academy, Ambazari Jalsanrakshan Va Sanvardhan and Tiger Group of Adventure have wished her good luck. President of SASA Pradeep Keche and Dr Dyaneshwar Dhakulkar were also present during the presser.