Physically challenged swimmer sets out to break Guinness World Record

ALAPPUZHA: 58-year-old TD Baburaj, a physically challenged swimmer, hopes to break the Guinness World Record one day. His goal is to set a record by becoming the man who swam the longest distance in the sea. For this, he has to go past 250 km, the record set by a Spanish swimmer.

In 2018, Baburaj, a native of Kainakary, had entered the Limca Book of Records by swimming from Champakulam to Punnamada (26 km) in just 7 hours and 10 minutes. In 2016, he had broken the Asian record by swimming 10 km from Muhamma to Kumarakom.

Baburaj became physically handicapped after falling from a tree at the age of 12. He decided to take up swimming as a career after witnessing a girl drowning after falling from a capsized houseboat. People's fear of water. He had won several prizes by competing with non-disabled in school and college. He had also won bronze at the National Championships in Patiala.

Continuous training, diet and safety arrangements for swimming in the ocean can be expensive. However, Babu, an LIC agent, is not able to afford it. He is hoping that a sponsor will soon come up to help him realize his dream.