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The Swimmer Who Challenged Fate
was adjudged the best and most efficient employee from among the physically challenge employees of the establishment
Taranath continued to participate in swimming competitions one after the other and started winning medals and other prizes in most of them, including many ocean swimming competitions. While he was still at school, he secured first position in the National Junior Swimming Competitions held in New Delhi in 1975, emulating a similar success two years later at Tiruanantpuram. In 1976, he entered the ocean swimming competition and secured a second position in the swimming event between Chowpati and Bandra. Thereafter he swam the distance of 21 miles between Shrilanka's Talimannar and Tamil Nadu's Dhanushkodi in just 15 hours. But Taranath Shenoy had the urge to cross the English Channel. Similar is the dream of every expert swimmer in the world. However, to dream that way is one thing and to achieve it in reality is quite another. The reason is that such a venture is very expensive and therefore requires strong financial support. This includes expenses for air travel to and fro between England and India, expenditure for accommodation in England, for acclimatisation purposes, for about a month before the adventure is undertaken, expenditure for pilot boats and for other such arrangements. The other difficult thing the swimmer has to face is the severe cold in and around the English Channel. It makes even the strongest swimmers in the world tremble.
But Taranath Shenoy was determined to swim the English Channel, come what may. He wanted to enroll his name once and for all among the fastest physically challenge swimmers in the world. Taranath made the first attempt to
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