Siddhartha Agarwal, a 49-year-old swimmer from Bengaluru, became the oldest Indian to swim across the English Channel on August 29, 2024. He completed the 42-km stretch in 15 hours and six minutes. This achievement surpasses the previous record set by Srikaanth Viswanathan at age 46 in 2018.
Agarwal, who was not a swimmer in his youth, described the rigorous training with coach Satish Kumar as a key to his success. Training involved increasing distances and strict targets, with any failure leading to a complete reset of the session. His success is seen as an inspiration for amateur swimmers, showing that age is not a barrier to taking on endurance sports like open water swimming.
Q.: Who recently became the oldest Indian to swim across the English Channel?
a) Srikaanth Viswanathan
b) Satish Kumar
c) Siddhartha Agarwal
d) Neeraj Chopra
Answer: c) Siddhartha Agarwal
Siddhartha Agarwal, a 49-year-old swimmer from Bengaluru, became the oldest Indian to swim across the English Channel on August 29, 2024.
