70-year-old swimmer on the way to swim 285 km

National swimming records-holder Khittindra Chandra Boissya, 70, has started a mission to swim 285 kilometres – from Sylhet to Bhairab in Kishoreganj – aiming to set a new world record in marathon swimming.

He started swimming from Chandnighat near Surma Kinbridge Point in Sylhet on Monday and aimed at reaching Bhairab Ferry Terminal via Sunamganj and Habiganj district, which will take around 70 hours.

On 19-20 July 2021, Spanish swimmer Pablo Fernandez broke the 15-year-old marathon swimming record by swimming 250 kilometres continuously in Miami, Florida, USA.

Several teams comprising members from the civil surgeons' office, district administration, police, and naval police are accompanying him to take utmost care to ensure that he does not have any physical or health problems while he is in the water, said Humayun Kabir Ahmad, Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police of Sylhet District Naval Police, who was present when Khittindra started his journey.

Photo: Debashish Debu

Khittindra fought for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 and was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2019 for his contribution to the war.

"Swimming has been my passion since my childhood. In 1974, I set a national record by continuously swimming for 93.11 hours, and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman honoured me with a silver boat," said Khittindra.

In 1976, he set a record by swimming 108.05 hours and in 2018, he set another local record by swimming 185 kilometres.

"I have been involved in long-distance or endurance swimming since 1970. In that year, I swam continuously for 15 hours at Madan in Netrakona. In 1973, when I was a student of MC College, I swam for 82 hours in the college swimming pool," Khittindra added.

Born on 23 May 1952 in Jahangirpur village of Madan upazila of Netrakona, Khittindra Chandra Boissya received his graduation in Physics from MC College, Sylhet and his master's degree in the same subject from Dhaka University.