Youngest ever to swim across North Channel: Divya Mahajan creates history

By Harsh Thakor 

Divya Mahajan, a 15-year-old girl from Nashik, created history by becoming the youngest ever to swim across the North Channel in 15 hours and 50 minutes on August 23. It was one of the proudest moments in Indian open water swimming, writing a new chapter in Indian sporting history.

Significantly, Divya eclipsed the age record set in 2023 by Anshuman Jhingran, who accomplished the feat at the age of 19. Her journey epitomised the glory women can achieve in sport, overshadowing male counterparts.

With unwavering resilience, Divya battled the extremely cold and choppy waters, swimming for almost sixteen hours. She demonstrated extraordinary tenacity in overcoming adversity during her journey, achieving her momentous mission on a day when the tides were particularly unfriendly, fighting relentlessly right to the end. Her swim was a testament to her incredible willpower, tenacity and endurance, enabling her to complete one of the most arduous open water ventures in the world.

The North Channel, or Irish Channel, is arguably the most arduous challenge of all open water endurance swims, with temperatures scaling around 12 to 15 degrees even at the height of summer. Her challenge was even more perilous as she was not permitted to wear a wetsuit, and her costume could not extend below the knees or above the shoulders.

Divya underwent arduous preparation for her challenge, reaching Europe well in advance and training up to four hours every day to acclimatise herself to the conditions.

Divya embarked on her journey from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland at 6.10 am and reached the shores of Scotland at Portpatrick around 10 pm. On her support boat she was accompanied by the captain, an observer, her coach Shrikant Vishwanathan and her father, all providing her with the utmost encouragement.

Divya Hitendra Mahajan, a year 11 pupil at Penwortham Priory Academy, has her sights set on transcending sporting glory to unscaled heights. She has named her challenge 'Mission Sapt Sagar' and has already completed the Catalina Channel solo swim in California, covering the 34 km stretch in 15 hours and 23 minutes. This made her the youngest Indian swimmer, at 15, to complete the Catalina Channel solo. Divya said: "Each swim presents unique challenges, from freezing water temperatures and strong tidal currents to long hours spent alone in open water. My ultimate goal is ambitious: to become the youngest person in the world to complete the Oceans Seven Challenge before the age of 19."

After the COVID-19 lockdown, she completed a challenging 19 km river swim, which boosted her confidence immensely.

Her goal is now to empower other girls through the medium of education and sport. She said: "I want to inspire young girls to follow their passions, dream fearlessly, and believe in their abilities. Too often, girls are told what they cannot do. Through my journey, I want to show that girls are capable of achieving extraordinary things. If I can pursue my dream, then others can too."

Alongside her mission, she has also been raising funds for BBC Children in Need, helping support children and young people across the United Kingdom. Last year she raised more than £1,200.

She attributed her success to the support of her family. Her father, Dr Hitendra Mahajan, is an anaesthetist who has climbed Mount Everest and achieved a podium finish in the legendary Race Across America. She credited her mother, Dr Anjana Mahajan, an ophthalmologist, as the pivot of her journey, taking care of nutrition and logistics, and acknowledged the support of her brother Om Mahajan, an ultra-endurance cyclist who holds a Guinness World Record for cycling from the northernmost point of India—Kashmir—to the southernmost point, Kanyakumari, in the fastest time at the age of 17.

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Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist who swam the English Channel in 1988