Navi Mumbai-based Shubham Vammali (18) recently dived into the elite league of long-distance swimmers worldwide. He completed two of the most difficult endurance swimathons of the high seas by swimming the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar.

This young ‘merman’ made his debut in the international long-distance swimmers league last August, when he swam the English Channel — a distance of 40 km — in 12 hours 42 minutes. A mere ten days later, he dived into the choppy waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, traversing the distance of 32 km in 3 hours 16 minutes, setting a new record for Asian origin swimmers.

Born into a household of sports enthusiasts — father Dhananjay is a former volleyball player and incumbent secretary of Navi Mumbai Volleyball Amateur Association; mother Deepika is a former kabaddi player, and younger sister Siddhi, an amateur swimmer — this first-year business management undergrad of Mumbai’s Sterling College attributes his early entry into the international league to parental support and the rigorous training regimen he has undertaken during the past ten years since he took to aqua sports. “My parents have always been pillars of strength and encouraged me to switch from competitive pool swimming to open water sports in 2009,” he acknowledges.

Since the time he made his first splash in competitive aquatics at age eight, Shubham — a dyslexic from birth — has won over 200 medals in state and national level championships apart from the All India Open Water Navy Sea Swimming event. “Although academics has been tough going because of my dyslexia, the support and encouragement I’ve received from my school (Ryan International School, Kharghar) management and teachers, enabled me to complete my school education and simultaneously train for aquatic tournaments,” says Shubham.

But success on the high seas hasn’t been smooth sailing. Shubham follows a relentless training regimen of five-six hours in the pool at the Father Agnel Sports Centre, Vashi, supplemented by fitness sessions in the gym and on the athletics track under the guidance of national coach Gokul Kamath.

Meanwhile ever on the lookout for new seas to conquer, Shubham has his sights on two testing open water stretches — the Catalina Channel (34 km) and the Manhattan Marathon Swim (40 km) — in the US next year. 
Bon voyage!

Shweta Nair (Mumbai)