Rupali Ramdas Repale (born 3 February 1982 in Mumbai), is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

open-water long-distance swimmer and triathlete. She swam the English Channel in the solo swim category on 15 August 1994 in a time span of 16 hours and 7 minutes, making her the youngest successful swimmer (12 years old) to cross the English Channel for the year 1994. She swam a total of seven straits during the course of her swimming career,

Gibraltar Strait The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. F ...

Palk Strait Palk Strait is a strait between the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It connects the Palk Bay in the Bay of Bengal in the north with the Gulf of Mannar in the Laccadive sea in the south. It stretches for about ...

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

, Robben Island Channel and Mumbai-Dharamtar Channel.

Early life and background

Rupali Repale was born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, the daughter of Ramdas Repale and Rekha Repale, who were small-scale business owners from a modest financial background. Born in rural

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, both the parents moved to Mumbai city in 1970s shortly before their marriage and settled in

Bhandup Bhandup (Pronunciation: ʱaːɳɖup () is a suburban locality in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, India. The name ''Bhandup'' is derived from ''Bhandupeshwar'', one of the names of the Hindu god Shiva. An old temple dedicated to Lord Shiv ...

, a suburb of Mumbai. Rupali completed her schooling at Bright High School & Junior College Bhandup-(west) and went on to graduate with a degree in sociology from

Mumbai University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

.
Rupali started swimming at an early age and soon developed a penchant for it. She showed remarkable stamina even at an early age and could swim for hours at a stretch. Noticed by her coaches and later backed by her father, she soon started training for long-distance events and later in the open waters. Apart from swimming, she also participates in

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

events and has achieved many accolades in it as well.

Swimming career

* 1994:

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 34 kilometers in 16 hours and 7 minutes. Youngest Swimmer for the year 1994. * 1994:

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, 28 kilometers in 5 hours and 5 minutes. * 1995:

Dharamtar Dharamtar Port, commonly known as JSW Dharamtar Port is on the right bank of the Amba river (i.e., Dharamtar creek) and is from its mouth. Approximately from Wadkhal village on NH-17. The port is from the state highway that runs through Pen to ...

two-way

Gateway of India The Gateway of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the waterfront of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near We ...

swim, 72 kilometers in 21 hours and 30 minutes. * 1995:

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, 40 kilometers in 11 hours and 5 minutes. * 1996:

Phillip Bay Phillip Bay is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 13 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Its postcode is 2036. ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, 65 kilometers in 17 hours, required swimming within the confines of a cage due to the shark-infested nature of the strait. * 1998:

, Pegano Head to

Waipiro Bay Waipiro Bay is a small coastal settlement in the Gisborne District on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The name also refers to the bay that the settlement is built on. It was named Waipiro by Chief Paoa, which translates literal ...

(

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

), 80 kilometers in 19 hours 44 minutes, record for the longest successful swim in first attempt * 2000: Three Anchor Bay to

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

(

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) two-way. 30 kilometers in 7 hrs.

Awards and honors

* National Youth Award awarded by then

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

late Hon.

Shankar Dayal Sharma Shankar Dayal Sharma (; 19 August 1918 – 26 December 1999) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the President of India from 1992 to 1997. Born in Bhopal, Sharma studied at Agra, Allahabad and Lucknow and received a doctorate i ...

, Bhopal 1995. *

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, formerly known as the National Adventure Awards is the highest adventure sports honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two individuals to reach th ...

awarded by then

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (India) The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Mansukh Mandaviya is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports fol ...

Hon.

Uma Bharti Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

, New Delhi 1999. * HIMA Foundation Award awarded by then

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

late Hon. Dr. P C Alexander, Mumbai 1995. * Sagar Kanya title conferred upon by the Government of Maharashtra. * Dolphin Queen title conferred upon by the Government of New Zealand.

Present activities

Rupali is the founder and director of Rupali Industries, a water purification based home appliance company. In her spare time she likes to coach young talent at local swimming pools.

Books on Rupali

* Biographical book Jal Akramile (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

) written by Sumedh Vadavala and published by Rajhans Prakashans. * Excerpt from Rupali's book is included in the Maharashtra state school curriculum to encourage youth involvement in sports.

References

External links

Official Site
* Junnar Taluka {{DEFAULTSORT:Repale, Rupali 1982 births Living people Indian female swimmers English Channel swimmers Strait of Gibraltar Palk Strait Recipients of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award Female long-distance swimmers Athletes from Mumbai Sportswomen from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Swimmers from Mumbai Indian female triathletes