Summary:
No obstacle is big enough for resolute determination, and Mumbai-based teenager Jia Rai has proven it to be true in spades.
The 14-year-old, who has autism, has created a world record by becoming the fastest special girl to swim 14 kilometres in open water.
She covered the distance from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India in three hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds, thus earning her a spot in the India Book of Records, Asian Book of Records, and Limca Book of Records for the youngest and first special girl in the world to achieve this milestone.
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No obstacle is big enough for resolute determination, and Mumbai-based teenager Jia Rai has proven it to be true in spades.
The 14-year-old, who has autism, has created a world record by becoming the fastest special girl to swim 14 kilometres in open water.
She covered the distance from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India in three hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds, thus earning her a spot in the India Book of Records, Asian Book of Records, and Limca Book of Records for the youngest and first special girl in the world to achieve this milestone.
The solo swimming event was conducted under the supervision of the Swimming Association of Maharashtra, an authorised body under the Swimming Federation of India.
“Fourteen kilometres is nothing for a normal girl, but for a special girl, there is no one in the world who could achieve this landmark,” says Madan Rai, Jia’s father and Master Chief at Arms II in Indian Navy who attributes her success to those who criticised her for having autism.
“If they wouldn’t have criticised her, I believe my wife and I wouldn’t have worked that hard to get our daughter to do what she did today.
I am a proud father,” he smiles.
Jia has come a long way since she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Delay in Speech at the age of two.
Her parents got her into swimming based on her doctor’s observation that her repetitive knocking — a characteristic of her diagnosis — could be purposely applied in water sport as therapy.