ROTARY - Humanity in motion

STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR CROSSING 17th JULY 2010

He may not have made the Channel at his first attempt but Sagar Badve has swum across the Straits of Gibraltar in 3¾ hours. This puts him amongst the fastest times and is a monumental achievement given his age and disabilities. The Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets is proud to be associated with this young man.

"REGLAMENTARY LIST OF SWIMMERS
ONE WAY CROSS
MAIN
Id NAME SEX NATIONALITY DAY TIME ARRIVAL AGE OBSERVATION/PHOTO
267 SAGAR RAJIV BADVE M INDIA 17/07/10 03:45 CIRES 18/11/1989
20
deaf-mute and partially blind "

Check out the Official WebSite: http://www.acneg.com/acneg%20ingles/One%20way.html

The President has also confirmed that he has made history by being the first person with multiple disabilities to complete the crossing. Please see International Album for Official documentation.

CROSS CHANNEL SWIM 3rd AUGUST 2010.

The swim finally took place on Tuesday, the 3rd of August from the starting point on the beach at Folkestone at 2.30 AM. Our swimmer Sagar walked on to the beach and at 03.25 was given the go ahead and the swim started in the dark.
Given that Sagar had little sight he swam very well in the dark, following the bright lights of the pilot boat. All was going very well up to the 12 mile mark during which time he had overtaken two other swimmers and was catching up with others that had started well before him. At that point he had crossed both shipping channels and had reached French water.
Soon after, fog descended on the French coastline and it disappeared. Due to his blindness he could not see the coastline. As we got nearer the fog started to lift very slowly but Sagar was losing heart as he could not see the coast and the water was becoming rough. He was stung by jellyfish and he began to question the distance but continued swimming strongly. He stopped many times to look for the coast but could not make it out. Despite being told he was getting very close, only approximately 6 miles away, he called it a day. He was not showing any signs of tiredness. Just before he stopped his speed was the same as when he had started which was confirmed by the official observer. He had covered more than 2/3rds of the distance. The observer said he was quite confused as to why Sagar had stopped so many times given that whilst he was swimming he showed no signs of tiredness. After returning to the shore we were informed that several other swimmers had returned that day, unable to complete the crossing.
As a club we were very disappointed in the outcome but this task is deemed to be exceptionally tough. However Sagar made an extremely good effort and we are proud to have supported this event.