On 20th March 2022, a 13-year-old Maharashtra girl with autism set a new record by swimming across the Palk Strait from Sri Lanka’s Talaimannar to Tamil Nadu’s Dhanuskodi, covering a distance of 29 kilometres in 13 hours and 10 minutes.
By achieving the feat, Jiya Rai, daughter of Master Chief of Arms of INS Kunjali, became the youngest and fastest female swimmer in the world to swim across the Palk Strait.The swimming commenced at 4.22 am on Sunday from Talaimanar and concluded at Dhanushkodi at 5.32 pm. The event was conducted and guided by the Para-Swimming Federation of India (PSFI).
Awards and Achievements
- In January 2021, Jiya became the first para swimmer to swim from Arnala Fort to Vasai Fort, covering a distance of 22 km in 7 hours and 04 minutes.
- In February 2020, Jiya became the first autistic spectrum disorder girl in the world to swim 14 km in 3 hours and 27 minutes from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India.
- Her name has been recorded in Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records.
- In March 2021, Jiya had won 3 Gold Medal in the Twentieth National para-swimming Championship-2020.
- She has won 24 Gold Medal and 1 Silver Medal in the National and State Swimming/Open Water Sea Swimming Championship.
Jiya was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was little over two years old. Her doctor realized a few months later that her repetitive knocking may be used as rehabilitation in water sports. This worked wonderfully, as Jiya became more relaxed and developed an interest in swimming.
“Autism is not a curse, its a boom if perfectly shaped” proven by Jiya Rai. People with Autism face many social challenges like unkind jokes and bullying. Around 50% of Autism are dropped from their school just because of strange behavior. But this is not the solution. One should take all the curative measures from the start of their birth just to link them to their society.
