Disabled swimmer to cross Palk Strait

After conquering the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, physically challenged swimmer Masadur Rahman Baidya has set his eyes on crossing the Palk Strait and even plans to scale the 6,622 m Chamser Kangri Peak in Ladakh this year.

Masadur, who lost both his lower limbs from the knees in a train accident as a youngster, wants to get into the stone-laden Palk Strait from the Sri Lankan side in July or August.

“The total swimming distance could be 26 or 27 kilometres depending on the strength of the current. I will get out of the water at Rameswaram, the entry point to India,” said Masadur, who turned 40 on Friday.

Masadur, a role model not only to the crores of physically challenged persons but also to every youth imbued with a spirit of adventure, would start practising for the big swim from March 1.

However, money is still a constraint.

“The total budget is around Rs.500,000. I have received Rs.300,000 from Assam’s Minister for Excise Goutam Roy. Now, I need support from the corporates for the remaining money,” Masadur, now a swimming coach with the West Bengal State Sports Council, told the media.

Once the monetary hurdle is overcome, Masadur would seek permission from the Swimming Federation of India and its counterpart in Sri Lanka and write to the Navies of the two countries for their clearances.

Masadur had created a sensation in 1997 by crossing the English Channel and added one more feather of success by swimming the Strait of Gibraltar in 2001.