Arati saha biography of william hill

Indian swimmer

Arati Gupta (born Arati Saha; 24 September – 23 August ) was an Indian long-distance swimmer who became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel on 29 September , at the age of ^[1][2][3][4] In , she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India.^[5]

Early life

Arati Gupta was born in Kolkata, India, as the second of three children and the first of two daughters to Panchugopal Saha in Her father was an employee of the Indian Armed Forces.^[6] Her mother died when she was two and a half years old.

Her elder brother and younger sister, Bharati, were raised at their maternal uncle's house, while she was raised by her grandmother in North Kolkata. At the age of four, she accompanied her uncle to the Champatala Ghat, where she learned to swim. Her father, Panchugopal Saha, then enrolled her in the Hatkhola Swimming Club. In , at the age of five, she began her swimming career, winning first place in the yard freestyle at the Shailendra Memorial Swimming Competition.^{[citation needed]}

Career

State, National Sports, and Olympics

Between and , Saha won 22 state-level competitions in West Bengal.^[6] Her main events were the metre freestyle, the metre breaststroke, and the metre breaststroke.^[6] In , she participated in the national championship held in Mumbai.

She won silver in metre freestyle and metre breaststroke and won bronze in metre freestyle. She set an all-India record in At the West Bengal state competition, she clocked 1 minute, seconds in metre breaststroke and broke Dolly Nazir's all-India record.^[6] At the same meet, she set the new state-level record in metre freestyle, metre freestyle, and metre backstroke.^[6]

Saha represented India at the Summer Olympics alongside Dolly Nazir.^[1] She was one of four women participants and the youngest member of the Indian team at the age of ^[7] At the Olympics, she took part in the metre breaststroke event.

In the heats, she clocked 3 minutes, seconds. After returning from the Olympics, she lost in the metre freestyle to her sister Bharati Saha. Following the loss, she concentrated exclusively on breaststroke.

Crossing the English Channel

Saha regularly participated in long-distance swimming competitions in the Ganges.

Arati saha biography of william hill Early life [ edit ]. Arunima Sinha Views: Information Service, Embassy of India. Career [ edit ].

She was inspired to cross the English Channel by Brojen Das. At the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race, Brojen Das was the first man to finish, becoming the first person from the Indian subcontinent to cross the English Channel.^[8]Greta Andersen, a Danish-born swimmer representing the United States, clocked 11 hours and 1 minute, setting the fastest time for both men and women.

She recommended Arati's name to the organizers of the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race for the next year's event.^[9]

Dr. Arun Gupta, the assistant executive secretary of Hatkhola Swimming Club, helped to organise Arati's participation at the event. He arranged exhibitions showcasing Arati's swimming progress as part of a fundraising program.

Jamininath Das, Gour Mukherjee and Parimal Saha also contributed to organizing Arati's trip.

At this point, Sambhunath Mukherjee and Ajay Ghoshal approached Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, who arranged a grant of ₹11, Jawaharlal Nehru.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 April , Arati swam continuously for eight hours in the pond located in Deshbandhu Park.^[9] On 24 July , she left for England with her manager, Dr.

Arun Gupta. She started her final practice in the English Channel on the 13th of August. During this time, she was mentored by Dr. Bimal Chandra, who was also participating in the Butlin International Cross-Channel Swimming Race.

A total of 58 participants, including five women from 23 countries, took part in the competition. The race was scheduled for 27 August at 1 am local time from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England.

However, the pilot boat of Arati Saha did not arrive in time. By 11 am, she had swum more than 40 miles and came within 5 miles of the England coast. At that point, she faced a current from the opposite direction. As a result, by 4 pm, she could only swim about two more miles before she had to stop.^[10]

Saha prepared herself for a second attempt.

Her manager, Dr. Arun Gupta, was ill, but she carried on with her practice. On 29 September , she made her second attempt. Starting from Cape Gris Nez, France, she swam for 16 hours and 20 minutes and covered 42 miles to reach Sandgate, England.

Aarti Saha died of jaundice in Kolkata, India, on August 23, , when she was 53 years old. Karnam Malleswari Views: Archived from the original on 2 April She had two siblings.

On reaching the coast of England, she raised the Indian flag. The prominent Indian politician Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was the first to congratulate her.^[11]

Later life

Arati completed her intermediate from City College. In , under the supervision of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, she married her manager, Dr.

Arun Gupta, and had a daughter with him.^[9] She was employed by Bengal Nagpur Railway. On 4 August , she was admitted to a private nursing home in Kolkata with jaundice and encephalitis. She died as a result of the illness after 19 days, on 23 August

Honours and awards

Saha was awarded Padma Shri in ^[9] She was the first Indian woman sportsperson to receive the award.

He had a younger brother and sister. Archived from the original on 27 September Archived from the original on 18 April But sporting activities or physical education were still not encouraged.

In , the Department of Posts introduced a ₹3 denomination postage stamp of her.^[9] In , a bust of Arati Saha was erected near her residence.^[12] The metre long lane in front of the bust was renamed after her.^[12] On the day that would have been her 80th birthday in , she was featured as a Google Doodle.^[13]

See also

References

External links