Pune based swimmer, Sampanna Ramesh Shelar has become the fastest Indian in under 21 group to swim across the Palk Strait from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanuskodi in Tamil Nadu.
He created this record by completing the distance of 29 Kms in 5 hours and 30 minutes. The previous record was 8 hours and 26 minutes.
With this achievement, Mr. Shelar is planning to do solo swims across the English & Catalina Channels soon, to eventually complete swimming across the seven oceans popularly known as the Oceans Seven Challenge.
His swim commenced at 6.00 am on Thursday from Talaimannar and he reached Dhanushkodiat 11.26 am completing the distance of 29 Kms.
He is a Bachelor of Physical Education student and trains under the guidance of Mr. Jitendra Khasnis.
He is also the youngest and fastest swimmer in the world to swim the Bangla Channel twice. This record is also recorded in the Limca Book of Records.