SCOTLAND: Veteran Assamese swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika became the first swimmer from the North East region to cross the North Channel.
Elvis and his team clocked a timing of 14 hours 38 minutes to achieve this overwhelming feat.
The North Channel is the strait between north-eastern Northern Ireland and south-western Scotland. It is the same distance as the English Channel but is a more competitive stretch of water if compared to the English Channel as North Channel's water temperature is 3 to 4 degrees lower which is suitable for Lion Mane jellyfish which is one of the largest of the jellyfish species.
Elvis Ali Hazarika in a statement after his achievement said, "It was really very challenging because we had to bravely cross the waters which were full of jellyfish"
Elvis Ali Hazarika is a seasoned swimmer having crossed the Jayasagar tank in Sivasagar at the tender age of 4.
Hazarika at 40 also became the oldest swimmer from India to have swam across the North Channel.
"We are the first Asian Relay team to cross the North Channel and I am the first oldest swimmer from India to have crossed the North Channel," Hazarika said in a statement.
"This is a dream come true moment for me and also a proud moment for all Indians and Assamese people," said Elvis Ali Hazarika after achieving the feat.
Elvis after achieving the feat posed for photographs with the Indian Tricolour and a Gamosa with Joi Aai Axom written in it.
Elvis has also tried swimming across the English Channel but was unable to cross the entire length and paddled for a total distance of 29 kilometers across the waters of the English Channel which is itself a feat as no Assamese has ever done that distance.
Hazarika crossed the Catalina Channel in 2019 and dedicated his feat to two Assamese youths, Abhijit and Nilotpal, who were killed by miscreants in Karbi Anglong district that year.
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