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

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, and the first person to cross it six times.

Early life and education

Brojen was born in the Kuchiamora village of

Bikrampur Bikrampur (lit. City of Courage) was a historic region and a sub-division of Dhaka within the Bengal Presidency during the period of British India. Located along the banks of the Padma River (a major distributary of the Ganges), it was a sign ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Munshiganj Munshiganj (), historically known as Bikrampur, is a town in Dhaka division in central Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Munshiganj District. Munshiganj is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited urban place. Etymology Munshiganj w ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). His father was Harendra Kumar Das. He completed the matriculation exam in 1946 from K. L. Jubilee High School (now K. L. Jubilee High School & College). He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College 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-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Swimming

Since boyhood, Brojen practised swimming in Buriganga River. 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 the

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

, in the lower

Meghna River The Meghna () 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, the Meghna is formed inside Banglade ...

, and a distance of 46 miles starting from

Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

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. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. 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 the 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 (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

* 1959:

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

award by the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

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 Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

, 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.

Legacy

In 2025, the government of Bangladesh named a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

after him.

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 Award People from Munshiganj District Vidyasagar College alumni University of Calcutta alumni English Channel swimmers People from Bikrampur Deaths from cancer in India Bengali swimmers 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen