Sports Desk:
Two Bangladeshi swimmers
67 years ago, Brozen Das became the first Bangladeshi to cross the English Channel. This legendary swimmer made his name in the pages of history by crossing it not just once, but six times. Abdul Malek and Mosharraf Hossain also followed his path. But 37 years have passed since then.
Two Bangladeshi swimmers, Mahfizur Rahman Sagar and Nazmul Haque Himel, want to break that drought. They will go to the UK on July 7 to cross the English Channel. They will be joined by two more Indian swimmers to cross the channel in the Atlantic Ocean that divides the UK and France. The four of them will start their swim from Shakespeare Beach in Dover, UK, and end their swim at the Cup Gris Nij Beach in France, about 37 kilometers away.
Himel came to the press conference of the age-based swimming competition yesterday. This swimmer from Kishoreganj also spoke about how much preparation was required for the English Channel and the story behind it, ‘After almost 37 years, we, two Bangladeshis, are going after Brozen Das Sir and Mosharraf Hossain Sir. Undoubtedly, this is a breakthrough. It is a matter of pride. And I hope that the current generation will also be inspired by us.’
Crossing the English Channel is a challenge. Especially the water is very cold. Apart from that, it is also a shipping lane. Jellyfish can attack at any moment. Himel said, ‘There are jellyfish there. The water temperature is 15 to 19 degrees. However, I have swum at 19 degrees in China. It was not much of a problem. However, it will be challenging at 15 degrees.’
A swimmer costs about 1 million taka to cross the English Channel. After setting foot in the UK, they will prepare for 10 days. However, they will enter the sea between July 17 and 24 with the aim of crossing any channel. Brazen Das crossed the channel a total of six times between 1958 and 1961. His first time took 10 hours and 35 minutes. Then Abdul Malek crossed the English Channel in 1965 and Mosharraf Hossain in 1987.
