KOZHIKODE: “But I want to swim some more,” 10-year-old Adil told his father Abdullakutty when the latter informed him that he had broken a Guinness World Record and that there was no need to go further.
And scores of people who were witnessing the scene in boats, on the banks of Chaliyar river and on the nearby bridge cheered as Adil strode forward.
Adil was attempting to break a Guinness World Record for swimming the longest with both his hands and feet tied, and to accomplish the feat, he had to swim more than 4km through the Chaliyar river. The boy started in the morning and swam for three-and-a-half hours before climbing ashore after swimming 4.630 km, nearly half-a-kilometre more than he needed to swim to break the record. Earlier, as his father bound Adil’s hands and feet with rope, there appeared to be no doubt in the minds of the onlookers as to whether he was capable of the feat.
“Adil is already a local celebrity, thanks to his prodigious talent that belied his age. His father has taught swimming to many kids in the area and Adil learned under him from a very young age,” said O M Nasar, one of the organisers of the programme.
Paper cuttings and video evidence of the attempt would be submitted to Guinness officials, Nasar said, adding that they invited an official to come and witness the event. “But they asked for more than `3 lakh as transportation and accommodation costs, something that we could not afford,” he said. The boy is a native of Chaliyam.