Woman In Her 70s Swims Across Periyar With Her Hands Tied

Swimming from Madapam Kadavu to Manappuram Desom Kadavu were Arifa V K of Thaikkattukara in Aluva, 11-year-old Bharath Krishna of Kunnumpuram, and 38-year-old Dhanya K G of Asokapuram.

She made the decision to study swimming after observing my children who attended the same institution. Her family has nine individuals who can swim. She swam over the Periyar earlier this year. Her personal trainer, Saji Valassery, gave her the courage to attempt it while restrained. She wanted to use this endeavour to spread the word that everyone should pick up swimming. People shouldn't hesitate, she advised, given the prevalence of drowning incidents.

Saji and his staff have spent the last week giving each of the three swimmers specialised training. Before attempting, everyone had taken the appropriate safety precautions. A crew of experienced swimmers followed the trio on boats to make sure they were safe.

Around 8 am, they set out, and by 8:45 am, they had successfully completed the stretch. Saji said that age is not a barrier to learning to swim. This message was intended to be spread via the event. There were drowning cases reported in the state even yesterday. Given that kids are typically engaged in instances, there is also a warning for the parents.

The Ernakulam Rural Police limit, where 102 people perished last year, is located along the Periyar stretch. 25 of these were suicides, and the other 77 were accidents. There were 62 male and 15 female unintentional drowning events.

Saji Valassery, an Aluva local, founded the Valassery River Swimming Club in 2010. Drawing inspiration from the 2009 Thekkadi boat catastrophe, which resulted in the deaths of about 45 people. 700 of the 5,700 persons he has coached for free are seniors or people with disabilities. Saji taught 720 individuals how to swim over the course of the summer break this year, and 130 of them were able to cross the Periyar.