13-year-old para-swimmer covers 28.5 km across Palk Strait. Watch video

A video of her feat shows her swimming on Sunday with ease as people gather to watch her set a new record.

para swimmer, autistic girl swimming, Palk Strait, swimming and autism, indian express

Rai, 13, swam across the Palk Strait from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Arichalmunai in Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu.

Para-swimmer Jiya Rai, who has autism, has created history by swimming 28.5 kilometres in 13 hours. Rai, 13, swam across the Palk Strait from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Arichalmunai in Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu.

A video of her feat shows her swimming on Sunday with ease as people gather to watch her set a new record. The clip also showed Tamil Nadu Director General of Police Dr C Sylendra Babu presenting her a souvenir with people cheering and applauding the teenager.

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Rai earned plaudits online for her achievement. “Amazing! 13 hour is a long long time and she kept on swimming for so long! Indeed a commendable effort! Superb Girl!” responded a user to news agency ANI’s tweet about Rai’s achievement.

Rai is the daughter of Madan Rai, an Indian Navy officer working in Mumbai. Indian Navy posted a congratulatory note on the official Facebook page. “She has become the youngest and fastest female swimmer of the world to swim across the Palk Strait. The previous record was held with Bhula Chowdhary who swam in 13 hours 52 minutes in 2004,” the post read.

The Indian Navy also noted in the Facebook post that the event was held to raise autism awareness, 75 years of India’s Independence and to bolster India and Sri Lanka ties.

The defence force also shared photographs of Rai swimming, holding the national flag with pride and wearing the souvenir.

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The event was organised by the Para-Swimming Federation of India. Senior Indian Navy officers and other officials were present during the event.

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