Kolkata, (PTI):

Twenty-two-year-old city girl Amrita Das crossed the English Channel, completing the 34-km challenge in 13 hours and 42 minutes.

An understudy of Masudur Rahman Baidya, the first double amputee below the knee to cross the channel, Amrita began at 6.19 am (GMT) from the Shakespeare beach in Dover, England and swam across the channel, reaching France at 8.01 pm (GMT) on September 4.

She could have bettered the timing if Amrita did not veer off course due to strong currents, Baidya said.

“There were high tidal waves that blew her off-course and she had to remain static for about an hour before resuming swimming,” Baidya, who has conquered the English Channel (1997) and the Strait of Gibraltar (2001), told PTI.

Baidya said Amrita had started started her preparation long ago.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India – Online Edition / September 06th, 2010