On the 27th of July, Adriano Passini completed the 43rd successful English Channel crossing by a member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon in a time of 11 hours 10 minutes. It was the first successful crossing by a Brazilian member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
Adriano began his swim in the very early hours of the morning at 02:37. Conditions proved to be a mixture of warm sea temperatures, rain, mist, and thunderstorms. Adriano had to also contend with jellyfish and large sea vessels. However, as he approached the French coast, 11 hours later, weather conditions became favourable. Adriano was supported by a dedicated boat and his two main helpers Ashirvad Zaiantchick and Karteek Clarke (a veteran of 10 channel crossings himself) – his helpers proudly mentioned that Adriano never complained, but cheerfully stuck to the task in hand.
Adriano has been dreaming of achieving this swim for the past couple of years. Recently, he has competed a few long swims in preparation; this included the Zurich Lake Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim, a 26km race organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
Sri Chinmoy encouraged his students to swim the channel, saying it offered a great challenge for individual self-transcendence.
“The English Channel frightens the human body.
The English Channel challenges the human vital.
The English Channel puzzles the human mind.
The English Channel invites the human heart.
The English Channel treasures the human soul.
” [1]
– Sri Chinmoy
“When we are inspired, we try to swim the English Channel. When we are inspired, we go from one country to another country to inspire people and to be inspired by them. I feel that when we inspire humanity, we automatically become good citizens of the world. This is my philosophy.” [2]
– Sri Chinmoy
Reporting by: Patanga Cordeiro (Brazil)
Related
- Channel Swimming at Sri Chinmoy Races
[1] Unsourced