Bhakti Sharma: The open water swimmer who conquered five oceans

As a kid, Bhakti Sharma wasn't just happy about conquering the seven seas in storybooks. She wanted more. Hailing from Udaipur, better know as the 'City of Lakes', she went a step further and conquered all the five oceans. Having swum in the Antarctic Ocean on January 10, 2015, she became the youngest to achieve this feat. Not surprisingly, the 26-year-old has earned the nickname 'Mermaid'.

In the city to give an inspirational talk at École Mondiale World School (Juhu) last week, Sharma said that nothing gave her more satisfaction than ticking the final box on her to-do list. "It goes without saying that it's the one closest to my heart. It wasn't just about the swim, but reaching Antarctica in the first place," says Sharma who covered 2.28 kilometres in 52 minutes.

An avid reader, Sharma added that the moment was remarkably unique. "I couldn't sleep after completing the distance. I remember going to the deck of the ship at 3:30 am and watch the sun rise. You don't get to see the sun a lot in Antarctica. That, perhaps, was a signal. I was at the right place at the right time. It was beautiful."

Sharma first got a taste of the pool after her second birthday. Her mother, Leena Sharma, a swimmer herself, ensured she fell in love with the water.. The move paid dividends as she bagged medals galore for St Anthony's Senior Secondary School, Udaipur, at the district, state and national levels. Soon, Sharma decided that it was time to jump into choppy waters. "I was bored of the pool. I first did an open water swim from Uran Port to Gateway of India in Mumbai (16 km). I was 14 then. I remember going to Juhu beach with a fisherman and his boat. At the Gateway two days later, I jumped in around one in the afternoon and was out by four. I was put off by the colour of the water, the oil, garlands and bhutta (corn). What I will never forget is the way all the tourists looked at me as I came out of the water," Sharma recalled.

With a few national open swimming races under her belt, Sharma, then aged 16, decided to swim in foreign waters for the first time. "The thing with the English Channel is that you have to be at least 16 years old. So I had to wait for two years. It is considered the Mount Everest of open water swimming. I was stuck for 90 minutes due to the current. That's when you decide if you want to come out or keep going." Not only did she cross the Channel on her own, but she did it all over again with her mother. That made them the first-ever mother-daughter pair to cross the English Channel.

"I didn't have too many friends. The English Channel achievement really changed things. I remember my collegemates thanking me because the institution declared a holiday in my honour. They teased me, saying, "Bhakti jal ki raani hai; jeevan uska paani hai (Bhakti is the queen of water; water is her life). I didn't want that attention," recalled Sharma, who scored a cool 84 per cent in Std X.

"Every hour, you are fed glucose water or a banana. I'm not supposed to touch the boat or anyone's hand. These would lead to immediate disqualification. During the race, you have to limit your intake because food makes you heavy and costs your precious seconds. The race makes you really hungry. Paneer, cheese, sprouts and carbohydrates form most of my diet," the vegetarian said.

With a lot more left to conquer, Sharma had to look no further than Bula Choudhury for inspiration. "She was the first Indian to swim across the seven seas. But I wanted to do all the oceans. The Indian Ocean was covered in Mumbai. Then came Pacific and Atlantic as I swam on both coasts during my trip to the US in 2007. I did the Pacific in San Fransisco and the Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico," added Sharma, who attended Symbiosis, Bengaluru.

Three down, two to go. Sharma had to conquer the coldest parts of the planet. She chose to swim in the Arctic Ocean first. "I used to stuff my suit with ice cubes before jumping into the swimming pool in Udaipur. I reached the Arctic Ocean two weeks in advance. The idea was to get acclimatised. But the moment I stepped into the water, I realised my ice cube methods hadn't yielded much fruit. This was a different challenge altogether. I thought my fingers were going to fall off," said Sharma, who swam 1.8 km in 33 minutes to become the second and youngest swimmer in the world to swim in four oceans.

Ahead of the final frontier, Sharma turned to Lewis Pugh, better known as the Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming. Pugh, a 46-year-old Brit, was the first man to have completed a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world. "Like a crazy fan girl, I sent emails to Pugh asking for help. First up, he told me not to go ahead. But I couldn't take no for an answer. I sent him another mail. This time, he replied with a soft copy of his book, titled 'Achieving the Impossible'. In the book, there's a chapter dedicated to his swim in the Antarctic. That's all I had to go by. I used an inflatable pool and filled it up 10 tonnes of ice. The next day, I suspended myself from a mining harness so that I got room to swim. I started at 12 noon local time. I finished in 52 minutes. The place, called Petermann Island, is one where tourists visit for the landscape and penguins. I swam 2.28 km on January 10 this year."

That was not all. A day later, the prime minister tweeted about her. "I still remember that I was playing a game of UNO. I was winning at that time so I didn't really react when my mom told me about Narendra Modi. I was happy I met him. He asked me about my future plans and promised to support me," said Sharma, who was awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Water Sport in 2012.

Sharma loves open-sea swimming. "You aren't allowed a wet-suit. If you sign up for a race in the cold climes, be prepared to shiver. All my swims have been done without wearing a wet-suit or using a cage. That means I have swam with whales, sea lions, jellyfish, penguins and dolphins. There was a race in Tarifa, Spain. It's in a shark-infested zone. I remember the instructor telling me to hope that the sharks had had their food. And if they hadn't, then pray that they don't come near you. Yes, I am crazy. An open-water swimmer cannot be sober," said Sharma, who loves sleeping. In fact, that's her hobby. "Given that I spend so much time in water, I am a very lazy person on land."

What next? "I have achieved whatever I wanted to. I am now planning to participate in the 2020 Olympics. There are the 5 km and 10 km open water swimming categories. For that, I will have to win a medal at the 2019 World Championships. I won't be doing anything else than prepare for this competition. It's back to the pool again," added Sharma, who plans to do a PhD in 'mental coaching for sports' on the side.


KNOW BHAKTI
* Introduced to swimming after her second birthday by mother-coach Leena Sharma
* At 14, she swam a distance of 16 km from Uran Port to Gateway of India in four hours
* Holds the distinction of being the youngest female in the world to swim in all five oceans
* Holds the women's record of swimming the longest distance in Antarctica (2.28 km)
* She swam a distance of 1.8 km in 33 minutes in the Arctic Ocean
* Shares a record with her mother and friend, Priyanka Gehlot, for the first swim by a three-member women's relay team across the English Channel
* Awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Water Sport in 2012