Rupali Ramdas Repale (born 3 February 1982 in Mumbai), is an Indian open-water long-distance swimmer and triathlete. She swam the English Channel in the solo swim category on 15 August 1994 [4][5] in a time span of 16 hours and 7 minutes, making her the youngest successful swimmer (12 years old) to cross the English Channel for the year 1994.[6] She swam a total of seven straits during the course of her swimming career, Gibraltar Strait, Palk Strait, Bass Strait, Cook Strait,[7]Robben Island Channel and Mumbai-Dharamtar Channel.[8][9]
Rupali Repale was born in Mumbai, the daughter of Ramdas Repale and Rekha Repale, who were small-scale business owners from a modest financial background. Born in rural Pune, both the parents moved to Mumbai city in 1970s shortly before their marriage and settled in Bhandup, a suburb of Mumbai. Rupali completed her schooling at Bright High School & Junior College Bhandup-(west) and went on to graduate with a degree in sociology from Mumbai University.[10] Rupali started swimming at an early age and soon developed a penchant for it. She showed remarkable stamina even at an early age and could swim for hours at a stretch. Noticed by her coaches and later backed by her father, she soon started training for long-distance events and later in the open waters. Apart from swimming, she also participates in Triathlon events and has achieved many accolades in it as well.[11]
1995: Sri Lanka to India, 40 kilometers in 11 hours and 5 minutes.
1996: Bass Strait, Phillip Bay to Melbourne, 65 kilometers in 17 hours, required swimming within the confines of a cage due to the shark-infested nature of the strait.
Sagar Kanya title conferred upon by the Government of Maharashtra.[18]
Dolphin Queen title conferred upon by the Government of New Zealand.
Present activities
Rupali is the founder and director of Rupali Industries,[19] a water purification based home appliance company. In her spare time she likes to coach young talent at local swimming pools.[citation needed]
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