Meet Gauravi Singhvi, The 14-Year-Old Who Is Making Waves By Setting Swimming Records

Ninth-grader Gauravi Singhvi, 14, from the City of Lakes set another record by covering a distance of 48 kilometers in 9 hours 22 minutes in Mumbai on Tuesday. She is the youngest swimmer in the state to do so.

She began her mission from Khardanda in Juhu beach early morning at 3.30 am and accomplished it by reaching at the Gateway of India around 1 pm. Gauravi also has a record of being the youngest one to have covered 36 kilometres in the Arabian Sea. Last year, the daredevil teenager had created a record in non-stop swimming by covering a distance of 16.8 km in 3 hours 58 minutes from Governor House to the Gateway of India.

ANI

"From last one year, Gauravi has been prasticing regularly for 8 to 10 hours. After this she will be practising for English channel," Coach Mahesh Paliwal said.

"The mission was not easy for the teenager. She was bit by the prawns and fish in the high seas. She also got stuck in the fishermen's net and had to struggle hard to get herself out. Open swimming isn't easy at all, sometimes you get good tides that helps you out in the water but most of the times, the tide makes it more difficult. Gauravi got more bad tides than the good ones. But she braved it all," said her mother Shubh Singhvi told TOI over telephone.

TOI

Gauravi dreams to cross the English Channel

Family members, relatives and close friends had gone to Mumbai to cheer the girl. "She is not only the youngest but first swimmer to cover 48 kilometres at a stretch in the open sea," the proud mother claimed.

Back in Udaipur, Gauravi's classmates, friends and teachers watched her live when she was about to touch the shores. Gauravi's mother had connected them through video call and everyone rejoiced as she came out of the waters. "Gauravi is very passionate about swimming and also a hardworking student. She is very good at studies. Punctuality and determination are her strength. We are very proud of her," claims Sanjay Narvaria, principal, DPS-Udaipur. Sweets were distributed and schoolmates danced in joy to celebrate Gauravi's success.

TOI

Gauravi started learning swimming at the age of three. The DPS student dreams to become the youngest swimmer to cross the English Channel. She has been practising daily for 3-4 hours in Lake Fatehsagar for years now. Presently, Bhakti Sharma, a young swimmer from Udaipur, holds the world record for crossing the English Channel in 2006 in 13 hours 55 minutes when she was only 16. Bhakti also shares a world record with her mother for being the first mother-daughter pair to swim across the English Channel, a feat that they achieved in 2008.