Mihir Sen Biography - Birth date, Achievements, Career, Family, Awards

Mihir Sen was born on 16 November 1930 in Purulia, West Bengal (India). His father's name was Dr. Ramesh Sen Gupta and mother's name was Lilavati. His father was a physician. And mother was a homemaker at home. He was the only child of his parents.

In the last days of his life, Mihir Sen lost his memory and lived a painful life. On 11 June 1997, Mihir Sen died at the age of 67 in Kolkata.

Mihir earned a degree in law from Utkal University in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Mihir Sen was the first such swimmer not only from India but from all over Asia. Who crossed the English Channel. He initially worked as a night porter at a railway station. Subsequently, he was appointed to India House in the Indian High Commission. On November 21, 1951, he joined Lincoln's Inn to study law. He worked all day at India House and studied at home at night. He could not attend lectures at Lincoln's Inn and study himself from books borrowed from his library. He was called to the bar at Lincoln Inn on 9 February 1954. During this time, he also met his future British wife Bella Weyngton at a dance at the International Youth Hostel in London.

Mihir Sen read an article in a local newspaper in 1950 about Florence Chadwick, the first American woman to swim the English Channel, and she was inspired to repeat this feat for her country. At this time, he had hardly any experience in swimming, so began swimming at the local YMCA and maintained his vision until he mastered front crawl (UK / Freestyle US) technique. And finally after some unsuccessful attempts, on 27 September 1958, he became the first Indian to swim the English Channel from Dover to Kailas at the fourth fastest time (14 hours and 45 minutes).

Returning to India in 1959, he was awarded the Padma Shri by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He then established the first person to swim the oceans of five continents in a calendar year (1966). Initially, he was required to pay the Indian Navy and raise Rs 45,000 to record and navigate the Pulak Strait Swimming. Sen succeeded in raising half the money through sponsors (especially the Kolkata daily, The Statesman) and with the help of the then minister reached PM Smt. To Nandini Satpathy. And finally, the Prime Minister agreed that the then Prime Minister of India was Mrs. Indira Gandhi, she said yes to the remaining amount. And then Mihir Sen became the first Indian to record by swimming between Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Dhanushkodi (India) in 25 hours and 36 minutes on 25 April 6, 1966. He was supported by Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterjee along with INS Sukanya and INS Sharda. Him. On 24 August, he was the first Asian to cross the Strait of Gibraltar (Europe to Africa) in 8 hours and 1 minute, and on 12 September became the first person in the world to swim on the 40-mile-long Dardanelles (Gallipoli, Europe). He achieved this mastery in just 13 hours and 55 minutes. In the same year, Sen was the first Indian to swim the Bosphorus (Turkey) in 4 hours and the first non-American (and third person) to swim the entire (50 mile length) of the Panama Canal in 34 hours 15 minutes. On 29–31 October.

After returning to India in 1958 (soon after his English Channel victory), he was denied entry into clubs due to a "whites only" policy. This forced him to lead a high-profile media campaign to abolish this rule, and as a result, clubs across India were forced to open their doors to all Indians. He initially practiced criminal law in the Calcutta High Court, but later became a successful businessman. His company was recognized by the Government of India as the second largest silk exporter in the country.

This achievement earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for long distance swimming and he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1967 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The same year, he also won the Blitz Nehru Trophy for his achievements in the seven seas of the world. In 1959, he was conferred with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.