Brojen Das (Bengali: ব্রজেন দাস; 9 December 1927 – 1 June 1998) was a Bangladeshi swimmer, who was the first Asian to swim across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

, and the first person to cross it six times.

Early life and education

Brojen was born in the Kuchiamora village of

Bikrampur Bikrampur ("City of Courage") was a pargana situated south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Munshiganj Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District. Geography Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

). His father was Harendra Kumar Das. He completed the matriculation exam in 1946 from KL Jubilee High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-gradu ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

Swimming

Since boyhood Brojen practised swimming in

Buriganga River The Buriganga River ( bn, বুড়িগঙ্গা, ''Buŗigônga'', ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. Its average depth is and its maximum depth is . It ranks among the most ...

. After his own initiative, the East Pakistan Sports Federation introduced an annual swimming competition in Dhaka in 1953. He was invited to take part in the English Channel Swimming Competition in 1958. As a part of his training he swam in

Shitalakshya River Shitalakshya River ( bn, শীতলক্ষ্যা নদী pronounced: ''Shitalokkha Nodi'') (also known as Lakshymā River) is a distributary of the Brahmaputra. A portion of its upper course is known as Banar River or Banor River. In the ...

, in lower

Meghna River The Meghna River ( bn, মেঘনা নদী) is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, ...

and a distance of 46 miles starting from

Narayanganj Narayanganj ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ ''Naraeongônj'') is a city in central Bangladesh. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka, and has a population of about 2 million. It is the 6th large ...

to Chandpur. Prior to the competition, he also swam in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

from

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has be ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

. At midnight on 18 August 1958, Brojen began swimming to cross the

along with other competitors from 23 countries. He completed the course on the next day after noon. Brojen crossed the English Channel a total of 6 times from 1958 to 1961.

Achievements

Local

* Champion in 100-meter freestyle swimming competition in West Bengal in 1952. * Champion in East Pakistan in 100, 200, 400 & 1500 meter freestyle swimming in 1953–1956. * Champion in Pakistan in 100 & 400-meter freestyle swimming in 1955.

International

* Italy, July 1958, winner (placed 3rd) in the Capri Island to Naples 33-kilometer-long-distance swimming competition. * England, August 1958, secured first position among the male competitors in the Billy Butlin's Channel Crossing Swimming Competition; 39 competitors from 23 nations participated in the competition. * England, August 1959, successfully completed the Channel Crossing Swimming Competition from France to England. * England, September 1959, successfully completed the Channel Swim from England to France. * England, August 1960, successfully completed the Channel Swim from France to England. * England, September 1961, crossed the Channel once again from France to England. * England, September 1961, obtained the world record for the fastest swim across the English Channel from France to England.

Awards

* 1956: Awarded by

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

* 1960:

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

award by the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

government. * 1965: Induction into the ''International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame'' * 1986: Letona Trophy, i.e. King of the Channel from the Channel Swimming Association of the United KingdomKings of the Channel, Letona Trophy
Channel Swimming Association. * 1976: National Sports Award, Bangladesh * Atish Dipankar Medal * Gold Medal by Kazi Mahabubullah Trust and Jahanara Jana Kalyan Trust * 1999:

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

, Bangladesh (posthumous)

Death

Brojen was detected to have cancer in June 1997. He went to Calcutta, India, for treatment, and died there on 1 June 1998. His funeral was held at Postagola cremation site in Dhaka on 3 June 1998.

References

External links

Website on Brojen Das, maintained by his family
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Brojen 1927 births 1998 deaths Bangladeshi male swimmers Bangladeshi Hindus Pakistani male swimmers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Recipients of the Independence Day Award People from Munshiganj District Vidyasagar College alumni University of Calcutta alumni English Channel swimmers People from Bikrampur Deaths from cancer in India