RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Ganesh Balaga, a 37-year-old para swimmer from Donkalapartha village in Burja Mandal, Srikakulam district, has proved that determination and resilience can defy even the harshest odds. Despite being stricken by polio in his right leg, Ganesh has achieved national and international acclaim in para swimming, setting records in both the English Channel and Palk Strait.
Currently serving as a swimming coach under the Eluru District Sports Authority, Ganesh has won 10 national-level medals and set multiple records in para swimming. His journey began in a village pond, where he first started swimming to escape life’s difficulties. Encouraged by his friends, he began participating in competitions, gradually moving from the district to the national level.
At the 12th Para Swimming National Championships held in Chennai, he clinched a gold medal in the 200-metre event, a silver in the 100-metre butterfly, and a bronze in the backstroke. He has also won medals at national meets held in Bengaluru in 2013 and 2014.
Ganesh has become the first para swimmer from the Telugu States to set a record in swimming both the English Channel and the Palk Strait. On June 16, he completed the 34-km English Channel relay between England and France as part of the six-member Pride of India A team. He swam his stretch in 13 hours and 37 minutes, a feat documented by the Channel Swimming Association. On April 18, he crossed the 28-kmthe Palk Strait from Sri Lanka to India in 10 hours and 30 minutes.
“There are no shortcuts, no excuses — only sheer willpower and waves,” Ganesh told TNIE. “I faced many challenges in life, but the cities of Vijayawada and Eluru enhanced my resolve.”
After being affected by polio, Ganesh’s family moved to Vijayawada in 2000, where his father, a small-time employee, took up masonry work to support them. He continued his education, completing his schooling at Sarada Vidya Niketan and later got his degree from Sarada Degree College. Inspired by Chokkapu Ramana, a railway staff and sportsman, he took up swimming at the Sir Wizzy Swimming Pool in Gandhinagar, Vijayawada, under coach S Tirumalai Kumar.
Representing Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU), Ganesh participated in numerous competitions and won medals at the national level. He later pursued a one-year coaching diploma at the National Institute of Sports in Bengaluru and joined the Sports Authority of India as a swimming coach, posted in Eluru in 2011.
He competed in national para swimming championships in 2012, 2013, and 2014 held in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Indore, winning medals across disciplines. He credits head constable Tulasi Chaitanya of Vijayawada for giving him life-changing advice.
It was this encouragement that led him to attempt the Palk Strait swim — a daunting challenge even for able-bodied swimmers. Ganesh trained for five months, swimming five hours daily in the Yerrakalava Canal in Jangareddygudem. He followed a strict diet and underwent medical evaluations.
“My ambition is to swim across the North Channel (34.5 km), the Cook Strait (22.5 km), Molokai Channel (42 km), Catalina Channel (32.3 km), Tsugaru Strait (19.5 km), and the Strait of Gibraltar (14.4 km), provided I get financial support,” he said. Ganesh has dedicated himself to coaching and claims to have trained over 3,000 students across Godavari over the past 15 years.