Ranchi: Two days after seven-year-old Ishank Singh from the city scripted history by becoming the ‘youngest’ in the world to swim across the Palk Strait, his family members said he seemed to have an affinity towards water even before he could walk properly.“Even before he was two, he was drawn to the water at Chhath Ghat and would insist on swimming in Dhurwa dam,” said his mother, Manisha Sinha, who runs a children’s hospital. Along with his father, Sunil Kumar, an electrical business owner, the family enrolled him in swimming lessons at three, where he began outperforming children twice his age.On Thursday, the Class 3 student of Jawahar Vidya Mandir at Shyamali here successfully navigated the 29-km Palk Strait from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, clocking 9 hours and 50 minutes. He was awarded the ‘world record certificate’ by the Universal Records Forum, naming him the ‘youngest and fastest Palk Strait swimmer’.Ishank is looking towards his next horizon. “Now I want to swim 60 km from India to Sri Lanka and back. I also want to swim across the English Channel,” he said. His ultimate goal is representing his country in Olympics, win a medal and conquering the ‘Seven Oceans’.The transition from pool to ocean was a calculated move. After Ishank dominated local tournaments and the ‘Kochi Swimathon’, his parents pushed for a greater challenge.“We saw he could easily swim 5 km a day in a pool, so we pivoted toward long-distance endurance,” Sinha said. Under the tutelage of coaches Aman Kumar Jaiswal and Bajrang Kumar, Ishank’s training intensified at Dhurwa dam to build the stamina required for the Palk Strait.Expressing immense pride, principal of JVM, Shyamali, B N Jha, said, “Ishank’s achievement is a source of pride for our school, the city, and the entire nation.”Ishank’s school, where his mother is also an alumna, has been incredibly supportive.“They remained flexible with his timings and did not pressure him even when he missed a month of classes to focus on eight-hour practice sessions,” Manisha said.While Ishank conquered the waves, his twin sister, Ishanvi, ensured he didn’t fall behind in the classroom. Scoring 92% in Class 2, Ishanvi who is in the same class as Ishank, shares classwork and assignments to help her brother. Despite his gruelling physical schedule, Ishank secured 87% in his recent examinations, according to his parents.
