Anita Sood

Last updated

Anita Sood
Personal information
Born (1973-01-18) January 18, 1973 (age 51)
Sport
Sport Swimming

Anita Sood-Mankar (born January 18, 1973) is a former national woman swimming champion of India. She became the fastest Asian swimmer to cross the English Channel with a time of 8 hours and 15 minutes on August 17, 1987, [1] becoming the 333rd person to swim the channel. [2] She was awarded Arjuna Award for her achievements. She is coached by Sandeep Digvikar. [3]

Contents

Achievements

Swimming since 1975, Anita first climbed to fame at the Trivandrum national age group meet in 1977, where she won nine medals - four golds, four silvers and a bronze - while participating in the under-13 category. A year later she bagged six titles in the Maharashtra state meet in Bombay and firmly established herself as a new phenomenon by bettering two records and beating long-reigning senior national champion Smita Desai to win the 100-metres freestyle. [3]

Personal life

Anita is from Maharashtra. [3]

She is married to Abhijeet Mankar, resides in Los Angeles CA, and has 2 children.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Channel</span> Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France

The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Evans</span> American swimmer

Janet Beth Evans is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude Ederle</span> American swimmer (1906–2003)

Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Among other nicknames, the press sometimes called her "Queen of the Waves".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynne Cox</span> American swimmer (born 1957)

Lynne Cox is an American long-distance open-water swimmer, writer and speaker. She is best known for being the first person to swim between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Bering Strait, a feat which has been recognized for easing the Cold War tensions between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Mihir Sen was a famous Indian long distance swimmer and lawyer. He was the first Asian to conquer the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958, and did so in the fourth fastest time. He was the only man to swim the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966). These included the Palk Strait, Dardanelles, Bosphorus, Gibraltar, and the entire length of the Panama Canal. This unique achievement earned him a place in The Guinness Book of Records as the "world's greatest long distance swimmer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arati Saha</span> Indian swimmer

Arati Saha was an Indian long-distance swimmer. She was best known for becoming the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel on 29 September 1959 at nineteen years old. In 1960, she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour in India.

Anita Lonsbrough,, later known by her married name Anita Porter, is a former swimmer from Great Britain who won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brojen Das</span> Indian swimmer

Brojen Das was a Bangladeshi swimmer, who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it six times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Wainwright</span> American swimmer and diver

Helen E. Wainwright, also known by her married name Helen Stelling, was a competition diver and swimmer who represented the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics. She remains the only woman to ever win Olympic silver medals in both swimming and diving.

Michael Peter Read MBE is an English long-distance swimmer who has the third most crossings of the English Channel – 33 to date. The current Queen of the Channel is Chloë McCardel with 44 crossings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bula Choudhury</span> Indian swimmer

Bula Choudhury is an Indian former swimmer. She is an Arjuna awardee, Padma shri awardee, former India national women's swimming champion and elected as MLA from 2006 to 2011 representing Nandanpur in West Bengal state of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Fisher</span> English swimmer (1927–2022)

Brenda Fisher was an English long-distance swimmer. In 1951 she broke the women's world record for swimming the English Channel becoming a celebrity and she was given the British Sportswoman of the Year Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Sharma</span> Indian open-air swimmer

Bhakti Sharma is an Indian Open water swimmer.

Taranath Narayan Shenoy, is a deaf and visually impaired Indian swimmer and an honoree of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. He is a winner of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, having successfully completed the English Channel, Catalina Channel and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupali Repale</span> Indian swimmer and triathlete

Rupali Ramdas Repale, is an Indian open-water long-distance swimmer and triathlete. She swam the English Channel in the solo swim category on 15 August 1994 in a time span of 16 hours and 7 minutes, making her the youngest successful swimmer to cross the English Channel for the year 1994. She swam a total of seven straits during the course of her swimming career, Gibraltar Strait, Palk Strait, Bass Strait, Cook Strait, Robben Island Channel and Mumbai-Dharamtar Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuyler Bailar</span> American swimmer and LGBT rights advocate

Schuyler Miwon Hong Bailar is an author, educator, American swimmer and advocate for LGBT rights. He is the first openly transgender NCAA Division I swimmer, and also the first publicly documented NCAA D1 transgender man to compete as a man in any sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramvir Singh</span>

Wing Commander Paramvir Singh is an Indian Air Force officer and Adventure Sports athlete. He is an open-water endurance swimmer with multiple records to his credit, having led expeditions to the English Channel, unexplored channels in the Arabian Sea, one of which broke a world record, and the historic first-ever swim down the entire stretch of the River Ganga. as well as an Ultra Triathlon and Duathlon athlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satendra Singh Lohiya</span> Indian swimmer

Satendra Singh Lohiya is an Indian swimmer with 70% disability. On 24 June 2018 he crossed the English Channel as part of a swimming relay team which, for the first time saw four para swimmers from India cross the English Channel. He completed the channel in 12 hours and 26 minutes, setting a new record. He has been selected for the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award 2019 for first Indian para swimmer which was given by the Honorable President of India Ram Nath Kovind and The Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi also recognized and appreciated Satendra Singh Lohiya's hard work and blessed him for his future endeavor on 13 March 2020. He received Vikram Award, the highest state-level sports awards in Madhya Pradesh, for swimming from the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, MP on 23 December 2014. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for 2024 for his contribution in the field of Sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meenakshi Pahuja</span> Indian academic and marathon swimmer

Meenakshi Pahuja is an Indian lecturer and marathon swimmer. After a successful career as a competitive swimmer, she became a teacher at Lady Shri Ram College, and later entered open water swimming. She received a 2018 Nari Shakti Puraskar award.

References

  1. "Successful English Channel swims by swimmers from India | Dover.UK.com". www.dover.uk.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  2. "Anita Sood, English Channel swimmer". www.dover.uk.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Sivan, Mohan (30 June 1979). "Surging ahead". India Today. Retrieved 23 November 2019.