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The first person from the North East to swim the North Channel was veteran Assamese swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika. The North Channel runs across north-eastern Northern Ireland & southwestern Scotland. Elvis Ali Hazarika has set a record for the oldest Indian to swim the North Channel. The time it took Elvis & his team to complete this achievement was 14 hours and 38 minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Ali Hazarika represented India in the SAF Games and competed in the Asia Pacific Championship.
- To swim across the English Channel, Hazarika covered 29 kilometres in June 2018. Additionally, he is the first Assamese to swim this far across the strait.
- Elvis Ali Hazarika, an Assamese swimmer, crossed the Catalina Channel successfully for the first time on Thursday.
- Hazarika began his expedition from the United States and swam from across Catalina Channel to Mexico in order to accomplish the accomplishment.
- He travelled 80 kilometres in 10 hours & 59 minutes.
Elvis Ali Hazarika
One of Assam’s most accomplished swimmers, Elvis Ali Hazarika, added another achievement to his resume on Wednesday when he became the first Assamese to traverse the North Channel after swimming it in a triathlon from Northern Ireland into Scotland. Living at the age of 40, he is the third Indian swimmer to do it.
Rimo Saha of West Bengal joins Hazarika as the initial Asian track team to reach the North Channel. It took the team 14 hours and 38 minutes to complete the task. “I’ve been looking forward to today for a while. I finally became the first Assamese (North East) ever to cross the North Channel via swimming from the Northern Ireland to Scotland relay after many days of pushing myself enough to work harder each day. We had several difficulties. Especially the enormous jellyfish that followed us the entire way! Hazarika spoke with TIME”.
Elvis started tough training on Tuesday to swim against the North Channel’s high gusts and rough seas. Thus the tale of his achievement began much earlier than Wednesday. Elvis found that psychologically preparing for the challenge was more difficult than fitness exercise and swimming methods. “Getting psychologically ready for all the obstacles we could encounter during the main event. Dolphins, seals, and jellyfish should not be overlooked. Let’s hope I can realise my goal,” Elvis said on Facebook before the swim.
In addition, he said, “We were the first Asian track team to cross the North Channel, and I’m the oldest Indian swimmer to have done so, clocking a time of 14 hours, 38 minutes. All Indians & Assamese should feel proud since a dream has come true.”
Not only that, though. According to his prior accomplishments, Elvis attempted to swim across the English Channel in June 2018 and completed a 29-kilometre crossing. He is the sole Assamese to have swum this far on the channel.
He also set a goal of becoming the first Assamese swimmer to swim the Catalina Channel from the United States in 2019. Elvis started swimming across Catalina Channel from the United States to go to Mexico. He travelled 80 kilometres in 10 hours & 59 minutes, according to media sources.
Elvis Ali Hazarika: Achievements
In November 2021, Elvis was the first Assamese who successfully swam across Dharamtar Jetty to the Arabian Sea, the Gateway to India. It is around 38 kilometres long.
He repeated his feat in 2019, becoming the first Assamese to swim across Catalina Channel in the USA.
Hazarika’s proud moment
“It was a really challenging assignment since we swam together with very big sized fish, but we couldn’t see properly at night, owing to less light in the water,” Hazarika said after successfully completing his trek. “For me and the people of Assam, this is a dream come true,” he continued. And in the meanwhile, he said, “This event was all of his training for the projected North Channel Swimming that he would try next year.”
The North Channel
Where the Irish Sea terminates, north of the Isle of Man, the North Channel begins & flows northwest into the Atlantic Ocean. Between Mull to Kintyre and Torr Head, the strait is at its narrowest. Here, the canal is 19 kilometres wide. The deepest section is called Beaufort’s Dyke. The International Hydrographic Organisation identifies the North Channel as the “Inner Seas off of the West Coast of Scotland” and considers it a marine environment component.
