At 16, Jiya becomes world’s youngest and fastest para swimmer to cross English Channel

Jiya Rai, a 16-year-old from Mumbai with Autism Spectrum Disorder, has become the world’s youngest and fastest para swimmer to cross the English Channel, a feat which she accomplished on July 28-29.

Jiya swam the English Channel from the Abbot’s Cliff in England to Pointe de la Courte-Dune in France in a time of 17 hours and 25 minutes between July 28 and 29, covering a distance of 34 kilometres.

She is the daughter of Madan Rai, the MC-at-Arms serving in Mumbai. The Western Naval Command (WNC) congratulated the young para swimmer on her feat.

“All personnel of WNC convey their heartiest congratulations to Jiya Rai for becoming the world’s youngest and fastest female para swimmer to successfully swim solo across the English Channel,” the Western Naval Command (IN_WNC) wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

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“Jiya, a 16 years old girl with Autism Spectrum disorder, is the daughter of Madan Rai, MC-at-Arms, serving at Mumbai. She has many inspiring achievements to her credit, including swimming across the Palk Bay earlier,” the WNC added.

Despite her disabilities Jiya is on a mission to become the world’s first and youngest para swimmer to swim seven oceans.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological and developmental condition, which affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave.

In December 2022, she swam 1,100 kilometres as a part of a six-member relay team from Mumbai to Goa and back to Vasai Fort in 11 days, 22 hours and 13 minutes, becoming the youngest and only female participant of the team.

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According to WNC, Jiya has swam across the Palk Strait from Talaimannar (Sri Lanka) to Dhanuskodi (India) covering a distance of 29 kilometres in a world record time of 13 hours and 10 minutes on March 20, 2022.

With this, she had become the world’s youngest and fastest female to swim across the Palk Strait.

Jiya was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode on February 18, 2021 and her records have been registered in the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records.

She has also won medals in national and state open-water sea-swimming championships.