Brothers Mritul (13) and Sudhay Senthilkkumar (15) — class VIII and X students of Coimbatore’s CBSE-affiliated Yuva Bharati Public School (YBPS) — recently dived into an elite league of long distance swimmers and the record books of five global organisations. Sudhay was feted for “longest distance covered (13.35 km) using medley swimming technique in five hours” and Mritul was acknowledged for “longest distance covered (9.2 km) using freestyle swimming technique in three hours” by the UK-based Elite World Records Pvt. Ltd, Singapore’s Asian Records Academy, Gurgaon’s India Records Academy, Chennai-based Tamilian Book of Records and Bhatinda-based Unique World Records Ltd. These olympian feats of the brothers Senthilkkumar were witnessed by authorised representatives of the five records-keeping organisations at a special swimming gala staged by the Rathinam and Kandaswamy Medical Educational Foundation at the YBPS swimming pool. The children of A.K. Senthilkkumar, a Coimbatore-based healthcare equipment businessman and homemaker Banumathi, the elder Sudhay was introduced to swimming at age six, and Mritul at age seven by their parents. In 2008, the brothers were inducted into a formal training programme by YBPS coach P.H. Harish. Since then, Sudhay has bagged 37 medals in competitive swimming galas and was a silver medallist at the Tamil Nadu State Aquatic Championship 2013. Equally if not more competitive, the younger Mritul has a record of 55 medals in several district and state-level competitions. And that’s not all there’s to them. The brothers are also academic toppers. Sudhay was one of 20 YBPS students selected to participate in NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission Challenge last November, earning his school a grant-in aid for building an Atal Tinkering Laboratory. Looking ahead, Sudhay and Mritul aspire to become scientists and innovators when they aren’t smashing swimming records. “Opportunities to swim for leisure and competition should be available to all children. Our dream is to build a state-of-the-art public swimming pool in Coimbatore so that thousands of swimming champs can rise from the huge number of underprivileged households in this city,” says Sudhay. Way to go Bros! Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
