KOCHI: Even before they hit their teens, three youngsters from the city are set to make their mark, as they gear up to cross the widest stretch of Vembanad lake by swimming 9 km on Sunday.
Edappally residents Aditya Sabu, 11, and her brother Adwaidh Sabu, 9, along with Ashokapuram native Krishna Vani, 12, will take on the challenge, which will encourage schoolchildren like them to learn swimming.The children have been training under Saji Vallassery who has imparted swimming training to more than 1,000 students at Aluva.
“Every year, around 50 schoolchildren drown and die in rivers and other waterbodies. Such incidents see a rise during school vacations. Even though there has been a recommendation to make swimming mandatory in the school curriculum, no such training is taking place in a majority of the schools in the state. So we decided to carry out the campaign to sensitise the school authorities and parents about the importance of swimming,” Saji said.The trio will start from the Kumarakom Boat Jetty to Muhamma Boat Jetty at 6 am on Sunday.
“They have been training for the past seven months. They were trained at Aluva river and as preparation, they swim continuously for seven hours. We expect the 9 km stretch at Vembanad lake can be completed in five to six hours. In the trial held two days ago, the children crossed the stretch successfully,” Saji said.
Malu Shiekh, a teenager who trained under Saji, crossed the widest stretch of Vembanad lake a couple of years ago. Similarly, a youngster Navaneeth, who was visually-impaired, crossed Vembanad lake after he was trained by Saji in 2015.
Last year, Radhakrishnan, a government clerk with a right hand deformity and who was also trained by Saji, crossed the Aluva river. During summer vacations, 100 of students are trained by Saji, who doesn't charge a single penny for it.“Apart from kids, several elderly persons are also approaching us to learn swimming,” he said.