Swimming for a cause

Brojen Das, a legendary Bangladeshi swimmer, was the first Asian to swim the English Channel in 1958. But none of the British citizens has swum the Bangla Channel -- from Teknaf to St Martins -- though the distance is less than the English one.

A British journalist, who is also a swimming instructor, has decided to cross the Bangla Channel on Sunday.

Becky Horsbrugh, as a first British citizen, will cross the 16-km Bangla Channel along with three Bangladeshis to raise funds for the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB).

“I am expecting to start at 8:30am,” she said in an interview with The Daily Star yesterday.

She shared her experience about her first visit to Bangladesh last year and why she got interested to revisit and take up such a challenge.

“I came across the details of the Bangla Channel just by chance. I was searching Facebook for information on swimming in Bangladesh and found the organiser's page… I was not aware of it until then,” said Becky, who works for the Associated Press (AP).

She said the event seemed to be a perfect opportunity for combining her two wishes -- a chance to return to Bangladesh and to raise funds for the CIPRB.

“I have read a lot of articles and found that 50 children died every day in Bangladesh through drowning. I was so astonished by the figure because in the UK it's only 15 in a year.”

Forty children drown every day and among the total victims, 9,000 are aged between one and four years, according to the Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey 2016. Over 15,000 children drown annually in the country.

More than 80 percent of the drowning occurs in natural water bodies (ditches, ponds and canals) less than 20 metres from their house. Most of the drowning occurs in rural areas during the day, between 9:00am and 2:00pm, when the mothers are busy with household chores and the child is left unsupervised.

Becky said swimming is a fundamental life saving right and it is a basic skill that everyone has a right to learn.

“I never had any plan of this, but after reading and investigating, I got interested.”  

The journalist said she first visited Bangladesh last July to help out with the SwimSafe schemes run by the CIPRB.

“I was deeply impressed by the organisation's work, and at the same time was totally captivated by Bangladesh. The sights and culture were so interesting… and the people … so welcoming.

“My first thought on returning home was how soon could I go back and the second thought was to raise awareness of how big an issue drowning is not just in Bangladesh, but in many countries across the world,” she said.

Regarding the challenges to swim in Bangla Channel, a confident Becky said smilingly, “With all big challenges, there is an element of the unknown. Maybe weather conditions will not be ideal, or sudden injuries can occur. But I am prepared for all eventualities and determined to do my very best on the day.”