Making waves while fighting tides

Rupali happens to be the second youngest in the world to cross the Cook Straits. Jeffrey Reid of New Zealand completed the feat at 14. This was the sixth strait which she swam successfully. Rupali swam the English Channel (1994), Palk Strait between Talaimannar (Sri Lanka) to Dhanushkodi (India), 28 km of Gibralter Strait from Dharmatar to Mumbai, Gateway of India to Alibaugh (Dharmatar) and 75 km Bass Strait (Australia) betweenmainland Australia and Tasmania in 1996.

The VG Vaze Kelkar Trust College student has set another record of swimming the Cook Strait on her first attempt. Out of 1,200 competitors only 35 have crossed Strait.

Pilot Chris MaCullum provided short notice for preparation. On March 8 Rupali went to Perano Head at 5 a.m. to check the conditions.

The next day she started at 6.53 in the morning along with the navigator Bill Paris and Observer Philip Rush. She applied grease on her body to ward off fishes. Ruali’s father Ramdas, who runs a small communications centre, accompanied pilot Chris MaCullum in a boat. “After an hour, dolphins joined her,”said Ramdas who considers it an ashriwad (blessing) from God. The playful dolphins provided Rupali some relief.

She began crossing four and half kilometres an hour. Water temperature was as cold as 12 degrees.

A good start saw Rupali covering 40 km an hour but the going got tough as the weather changed in the afternoon. The wind speed subsequently rose to 20knots per hour.

“The Cook Strait is 22 km across but it extends to 28 km or so while swimming,” said the girl who aims to participate in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the triathlon competition.

When asked why most competitors withdrew so early she said, "The water is freezing and most of the swimmers turn cold after 15 to 18 km. This must have forced them to withdraw. I had no other option other than going all out on the first attempt as we didn’t have much money to pay for the hired boat for the second."

Rupali’s college sponsored her air travel while Garware Sports Club and Fateh Singh Gaekwad Trust chipped in with footing other costs.

The adverse conditions that Rupali had to endure can be gauged by the fact that a day prior to the swim bad weather and high tides forced ferries to be cancelled.

To make things worse, gusty winds and a strong tide pushed her more than 30 km south which extended the course to a distance of 80 km.

The elder daughter of Ramdas and Rekha, Rupali has two youngerbrothers. She admitted that her family had always supported her in her swimming endeavours. But she serenely admitted that her tight and hectic practice schedule affects academics. She readily acknowledges the support of her friends."It is so kind of Poornima, Anuja and Chanda who always lend their notes to me as I prepare for exams."

Poornima said,"Her success has made our group famous in college." While Anuja responded with a big smile on her face that she would like to see Rupali win an Olympic medal at Sydney.

Rupali schooled at Bright High School and began swimming for fun at the age of eight under her present coach Raju Palkar. "My interest in swimming grew and I began participating in competitions," said Rupali, who adores film actors Akhshay Khanna and Shahrukh Khan. Her routine work-out involves cycling, gymnasium and road running in the morning and four to five hours of swimming in the evening at the Shahji Raje Krida Sankulan sports complex, Andheri.

When asked how she swims for almost 20hours, Rupali who is fond of cricketer Rahul Dravid and German tennis player Steffi Graf says," I was singing, sight-seeing and looking deep down into the sea as the water was quite clear."