Pooja, 7 and Akshat, 9 to swim from Alibaug to Gateway

No one enjoys being in the water as much as seven-year-old Pooja Bhangire and her nine-year-old fellow prodigy Akshat Bhargava. The two water babies are all set to swim non-stop, covering a 22-km stretch from Revas in Alibaug to the Gateway of India, on Saturday.

Trained by Arjuna-awardee and world-record-holder Arti Pradhan, Pooja has already swum a distance of 12 kms in the Arabian Sea covering the stretch from Uran to Gateway of India at the age of five. Nominated for the national level Bal Gaurav Puraskar in the category of adventure sport activity, Pooja has also been featured in the Limca Book of Records as the youngest swimmer.

Nine-year-old Akshat Bhargava, a student of Chhatrabhuj Narsee Memorial High School at Vile Parle will also accompany Pooja Bhangire in breaking this record. Akshat who has also sought training from Pradhan is confident that he will successfully achieve his goal. Initially hydrophobic, Akshat now has eight silver medals to his credit. “I want to swim, because I enjoy doing it. I want to win maximum medals,” says an excited Akshat.