Swimming expedition by Indian national Syamala Goli

Northern Provincial Council Chairman C.Velupillai Kandaiah Sivagnanam on Thursday flagged off the 30 km Palk Bay Swimming expedition by India’s Syamala Goli. 

The endeavour symbolises India-Sri Lanka connectivity at the people’s level and their close and friendly ties through millennia Friendship.

With her successful endeavour to swim across the Palk Strait from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi in India on 19 Mar, the ace swimmer aged 47 years will become the second woman in the world and 13th swimmer overall to have accomplished the challenging feat. 

Syamala Goli represented Telangana in the 2020 FINA World Masters Championship in Gwanju, South Korea. In November 2020, she swam a 30 km stretch in the Great Ganges River in Patna and secured 6th position with timing of 110 minutes.

Multi-talented, Syamala, who is also an animation film producer, director and writer, picked up swimming only four years ago. She has been preparing for the Palk Strait Swimming Expedition under the guidance of her coach Ayush Yadav at SATS swimming pool in Gachibowli (Hyderabad).

Syamala strongly believes that her crossing the Palk Strait will be an achievement for the whole of womanhood and hopes that this would inspire women to aim higher and believe that nothing is impossible.