NAGAPATTINAM: Twenty-year-old S Sabarinathan is an ordinary college student with extraordinary abilities. On Thursday, he swam 10 km in the sea, from Velankanni to Nagapattinam, in an attempt to create a world record. The feat was not that he swam in the sea, but that he did so with one of his tied up, and a 1-kg stone strapped to his back.
A native of Keechankuppam, Sabarinathan’s father is a fisherman. He completed the 10-km swim in little over three hours. “It would be very encouraging if my achievement gets international recognition,” Sabari told Express. “I want to make my country proud and win international events. I thank my coach S Ranjith Kumar and my institute for their support.”
At 8am Thursday, with his left hand chained to his body along with a heavy stone, Sabari waded into the water accompanied by a rescue team, officials, and fishermen. “He pushed himself relentlessly through the water, aware that even if he slowed down for a bit, he could be pulled down by the weight of the stone,” says an observer.
He completed the stretch —Velankanni to Akkaraipettai — in 3.17 hours, and was greeted by supporters with cheers and refreshments.
His feat was instantly recognised by the Tamil Nadu based record registering agency 'Will Medal of World Records'. Earlier in March, Sabari accomplished another feat by swimming 5 km in the sea with both his hands chained, between Nagore and Nagapattinam in 2.20 hours.
Sabari, who hails from a poor fishing family, is hoping his unique skills will get his family out of economic hardships. "If the government and authorities help bring focus to my skills, the Guinness World Records might feature me," says Sabari. He has requested the State and Central governments to give permission to swim from Nagapattinam, across Palk Strait and touch the Mannar in Sri Lanka to better the 1994 feat of R Kutraleeswaran, who was 13 years old.