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Indian open-air swimmer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhakti Sharma (born 30 November 1989) is an Indian Open water swimmer.
Bhakti Sharma | |
|---|---|
 Sharma at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2011 | |
| Born | 30 November 1989 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Open water swimmer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Awards | Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, 2010 |
| Website | bhaktisharma.in |
Sharma is the first Asian woman and the youngest in the world to set a record in open swimming in Antarctic waters. Sharma swam 1.4 miles (2.3 km) in 41.14 minutes, at a temperature of 1 °C (34 °F), breaking the record of Lynne Cox (USA) and Lewis Pugh (Great Britain).[1] Bhakti Sharma has swum in all the five oceans of the world, besides swimming in or across eight other seas and channels. She was awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2010.[2]
On June 22, 2016, A. R. Rahman tweeted to support the crowdfunding campaign started by Sharma on Fueladream.com.[3]
Sharma was born in Mumbai and brought up in Udaipur, Rajasthan. She holds a master's degree from Symbiosis School of Media and Communication, Bengaluru in Communications Management, and holds a bachelor's degree in Commerce from Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Sharma started swimming at a young age of 2 and a half years, coached by her mother Leena Sharma. After having participated in many State and District Level competitions, her first open water (Sea) swim was a 16 km swim from Uran port to Gateway of India in 2003. Sharma was just 14 years old that time.[4][5]
Along with her Mother-Coach Leena Sharma and friend Priyanka Gehlot, Bhakti holds the Asian record for the first swim by a 3-member women's relay team across the English Channel. She also shares a world record with her mother for being the first mother-daughter pair to swim across the English Channel, a feat that they achieved in 2008.
Sharma is only the third person in the world to have swum in the Arctic Ocean, and recently swam in the Antarctic Ocean to become the youngest to swim in all five oceans, a feat which earned her recognition from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[6][7]
Sharma's swimming career's major milestones include :
National Swims
On January 10, 2015, Sharma became the youngest in the world and first Asian girl to swim in the freezing water of Antarctica for 2.25 km,[16] beating the record of British open water swimming champion Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne Cox. Sharma swam for 41.14 minutes, covering 2.25 km distance in the freezing waters of Antarctica while the temperature was only one degree celsius.[16] She performed the record-breaking swim with the sponsorship of Hindustan Zinc Limited.[17]
Sharma is also a public speaker; she has been invited to speak about her experiences at various national and international speaker platforms. Some of the well-documented speaker opportunities include
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