Bangladeshi swimmers Mahfizur Rahman Sagor and Nazmul Haque Himel successfully crossed the English Channel on Tuesday.聽
The duo became the first Bangladeshis in 37 years to reach this remarkable milestone after the South Asian Games gold medallist Mosharraf Hossain, who achieved the feat in 1988.
鈥楽tanding on the coast of France, I felt that I鈥檝e made it, we made it. How many stories could be written about this?鈥� Sagor expressed his feeling after crossing the channel.
鈥楤y the grace of Almighty Allah and your unwavering support, Team Bangladesh has conquered the English Channel in a 6-person relay swim. The English Channel is no longer a myth. After 37 years of waiting, we finally did it.鈥�
Mahfiz and Himel were part of a six-member relay team comprising three Indians and a Mexican. They began their gruelling swim at 2:30am (local time) and completed the 33.4-kilometre crossing in 12 hours and 20 minutes.聽
Mahfiz was the last swimmer to complete the relay.
The late Brojen Das became the first Bangladeshi and South Asian swimmer to cross the channel during the Pakistan era in 1958. He crossed the 33.4-kilometre channel five more times by September 1961.
