Youngest Indian to compete at the Olympics - Arati Saha

India has produced several sporting prodigies over the years. The likes of Abhinav Bindra, PT Usha, PV Sindhu, Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, among others, shot to fame with spectacular feats even before crossing their teens.

However, Indian swimmer Arati Saha stands out even in that illustrious list of prodigies.

The youngest Indian to take part in an Olympics, Arati Saha was just 11 years, 10 months and 305 days old when she made her Games debut at the Helsinki 1952 Olympics.

It is a record which still stands and looks unlikely to be broken in the foreseeable future.

Arati Saha - India’s swimming prodigy

Born on 24 September, 1940 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Arati Saha was introduced to swimming at the age of four and won her first competition when she was five years old.

It kickstarted her swimming career and under the mentorship of Sachin Nag, an Asian Games champion and Olympian, Arati Saha soon emerged as one of the best young swimmers in India.

Arati Saha mainly swam short-distance freestyle and breaststroke events and won several competitions in her native state of West Bengal.

Her main competitor in India was Dolly Nazir, who was five years elder to Arati Saha and held national records at the time. Nazir also beat Arati at the national championships in 1948.

However, Arati Saha created her own national record in the 100m breaststroke in 1951. By the time the 1952 Helsinki Olympics came about, it was clear that Arati Saha and Dolly Nazir were India’s two standout swimmers.

Arati Saha at the 1952 Olympics

Dolly Nazir and Arati Saha were both named in the Indian contingent for the 1952 Olympics. Along with Nilima Ghose and Mary D’Souza, they were the only female Indian athletes at the Olympics.

When Arati Saha jumped in the pool on July 26, 1952 for the women’s 200m breaststroke heats, it made her the youngest Indian Olympian.

Arati Saha swam in the third heat of the women’s 200m, along with eventual bronze-medallist Elenor Gordon of Great Britain. Gordon was seven years senior to Arati.

The Indian swimmer finished sixth in the heats, clocking 3:40.8 seconds and was unable to qualify for the semi-finals. It brought an early end to her Olympic campaign but not before she had created a seemingly unbreakable Indian Olympic record.

Crossing the English channel

While Arati Saha may be the youngest Indian to compete at the Summer Games, she is better known as the first Asian woman to cross the English channel.

Inspired by Bangladeshi swimmer Brojen Das, who was the first Asian man to swim across the English Channel in 1958, Arati Saha began training for the gruelling course. She was supported in her endeavour by Mihir Sen, the first Indian man to swim the English Channel.

Arati Saha made her first attempt in August 1959. However, her boat arrived late at the starting point and she missed the optimum swimming conditions. The Indian swimmer still went ahead with her swim but was forced to turn back a few miles short of her destination due to strong currents.

Five days after turning 19, on September 29, 1959, Arati Saha made a second attempt at crossing the English Channel.

After swimming for 16 hours and 20 minutes, Arati Saha covered 42 miles and reached Sandgate, England, to successfully swim across the English Channel and etch her name in the record books.

Arati Saha was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1960 and was the first female Indian athlete to be given the honour.

She died on 23 August, 1994, due to health complications.