Arati Saha
From Openwaterpedia
Arati Saha (later Arati Gupta, born 24 September 1940 Kolkata, India, died 23 August 1994) was an Indian competitive swimmer and open water swimmer.
Swimming Highlights
- At the 1951 West Bengal state meet, she swam 1:37.6 seconds in 100m breaststroke to set a national record.
- She completed in the 200m breaststroke at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games at the age of 12, swimming 3:40.8 seconds. After returning from the Olympics, she lost in 100m freestyle to her sister Bharati Saha. After the loss, she concentrated only on breaststroke.
- On 13 April 1959, she swam 8 hours in the pond in Deshbandhu Park in training for her upcoming English Channel attempt.
- On 27 August 1959, she competed with 53 men and 5 women representing 23 countries in the 1959 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim that started at 1 am from Cape Gris Nez, but she aborted the crossing within 5 miles of reaching Sandgate, England.
- On 29 September 1959, Saha became the first Asian woman to swim the 33.5 km English Channel finishing in 16 hours 20 minutes at the age of 19.
- In 1960, she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India.
- In 1999, her English Channel crossing was commemorated with a stamp in India.
