Mihir Sen

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Mihir Sen
Born	November 16, 1930 Purulia, West Bengal, India
Died	June 11, 1997 Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation	Swimmer

Mihir Sen (November 16, 1930– June 11, 1997) was an Indian lawyer more notable for his career as a record-setting swimmer.

[edit] English channel swim

His father was a doctor in Cuttack. He went to England to prepare himself for the bar but was attracted to swim across the channel. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he became the first Indian to swim the English Channel, from Dover to Calais on September 27 1958.^[1]

[edit] Other swimming activities

His next adventurous swimming expedition was from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanuskoti in India, swimming for 25 hours 44 minutes, starting on 6 April 1966, across the Palk strait infested with poisonous snakes and sharks. He was assisted by the Indian Navy in this venture.^[1] He was the first Asian to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar in 8 hours 1 min on 24 August 1966.^[1] On 12 September 1966 he swam across the Dardanelles and nine days later the Bosphorous.^[1]

He swam across the length of the Panama Canal in two stages. He started on 29 October 1966 and finished on 31 October, swimming for a total of 34 hours 15 minutes.^[1]

Thus he swam across the seven seas of the five continents.^[2]He was the first in the world to do so. He undertook and completed six of these swimming feats, all in a year in 1966! ^[3]

He swam more than 600km in sea/ocean water.

In 1959 he was awarded the Padma Shree, and in 1967, the Padma Bhushan.^[4]

Mihir Sen was a barrister by profession, having been called to the bar in England. He was president of the Explorers Club of India. In the last stages of his life he suffered from loss of memory and lived a painful life.^[1]

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Mihir Sen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH	16 November 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH	Purulia
DATE OF DEATH	11 June 1997
PLACE OF DEATH	Kolkata