Panaji-based swimmer Arunima Bose has successfully completed a relay swim across the 34-kilometre English Channel, one of the world’s most challenging open water routes.
On June 21, Arunima and four teammates—Avinash Thadani, Kiran Rajagopal, Madhur Gopal, and Yajna Somayaji—swam from Shakespeare Beach in Dover, England, to Cap-Gris-Nez, France, in 15 hours and 58 minutes. The five formed the Indian team “SwimLife Arrows.”
This year’s relay swim held special significance, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb’s pioneering solo swim across the Channel.
An Expressive Art Therapist based in Panaji, Arunima also serves as lead coach at the Goa Open Water Swimming Club (GOWSC), which promotes open water swimming across India.
“I have been swimming since I was a child, but being in Goa motivated me to explore sea swimming, building my curiosity for open water challenges,” said Arunima.
She shared that mental resilience was as important as physical training. “I strengthened my mind and mental make-up through meditation and visualization practices,” she said, adding that cold-water acclimatisation through ice bath immersions was the hardest part of her preparation.
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