Snippets of Information
Achievements - Sailing, Swimming
* 7 Sep 2025
Navika Sagar Parikrama II was an Indian Navy mission where two women officers, Lt Cdr Roopa A and Lt Cdr Dilna K, circumnavigated the globe in double-handed mode aboard the indigenous sailboat INSV Tarini.
The mission, flagged off from the Ocean Sailing Node, INS Mandovi, Goa,
on October 2, 2024, marked a historic achievement, showcasing women's
empowerment and India's maritime capabilities. The officers successfully
returned to Goa in May 2025 after covering approximately 25,400
nautical miles and facing challenging weather conditions.
Unlike the first Navika Sagar Parikrama in 2017-2018 (with six
women), this expedition was completed by only two officers, highlighting
a significant step forward in solo and double-handed sailing for women
in the Indian Navy. The mission also aimed to contribute to marine and
scientific research, studying microorganisms, oceanic pollutants, and
contributing to climate change research. The journey included strategic
port calls, such as in Cape Town, to promote diplomacy and strengthen
maritime cooperation with friendly nations in the Indian Ocean Region.
The officers endured extreme weather conditions, including cyclones and
strong winds, and navigated treacherous waters like the Drake Passage
and around Cape Horn.
The crew successfully completed the arduous journey and returned to Goa
in May 2025, a momentous occasion marked by a flag-in ceremony presided
over by the Raksha Mantri, .
Source: Google AI Overview
* 7 Sep 2025
The Navika Sagar Parikrama was the Indian Navy's first-ever
circumnavigation of the globe by a six-member all-woman crew (Vartika
Joshi, Pratibha Jamwal, P Swati, S Vijaya, Aishwarya and Payal Gupta) on
the INSV Tarini. This landmark expedition took place from September 10,
2017, to May 21, 2018, covering 21,600 nautical miles over 254 days.
Led by Lt. Cdr. Vartika Joshi, the mission aimed to showcase women's
empowerment in the armed forces, test the crew's sailing skills, and
promote maritime interests. The expedition involved sailing across the
globe with a few strategic port calls. Starting at Panaji, Goa, there
were port calls at Fremantle (Australia), Lyttelton (New Zealand), Port
Stanley (Falkland Islands), and Cape Town (South Africa), with a forced
stop (A technical halt) in Port Louis, Mauritius and finally returned to Goa.
The journey was documented in the film "Tarini" produced by the Indian
Navy and National Geographic, which also launched the "Girls Who Sailed"
campaign.
Source: Google AI Overview
* 8 Sep 2025
Bula Choudhury (2 Jan 1970) from Kolkata, popularly known as the
"Queen of Seas", is a celebrated Indian swimmer known for her remarkable
achievements in open water swimming. In 1979 (nine years old) she
dominated her group in the National swimming competition. She went on
to win multiple gold medals at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games,
with 4 in Katmandu in 1984 and 6 in Colombo in 1991.
Chowdhury started long-distance swimming in 1989 and crossed the English
Channel that year. She won the 81-km (50-mile) Murshidabad Long
Distance Swim in 1996, and in 1999 she crossed the English Channel
again. In 2005 she became the first woman to have swum across sea
channels off five continents including the Strait of Gibraltar, the
Tyrrhenian Sea, Cook Strait, Toroneos Gulf (Gulf of Kassándra) in
Greece, the Catalina Channel off the California coast, and from Three
Anchor Bay to Robben Island near Cape Town, South Africa.
She was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2009.
Source: britannica.com, timesofindia.com
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