Sri Chinmoy placed great value on great feats of self-transcendence, and one of the most notable challenges was swimming the English Channel.
The first disciple to swim the English channel was Vasanti Niemz on 9 September 1985, followed the next day by Adhiratha Keefe. Since 1985, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has completed 40 solo swims and 10 team swims. The most recent crossings were this summer Abhejali Bernardova, who completed he first crossing and first time swimming breastroke and first timer Jayasalini Abramovskikh
Other notable swims included Vijaya Claxton who swam the channel, aged 59, taking just under 22 1/2 hours. See: Concern: A Reality of the Heart
Question: It takes a very long time, a lot of effort and a lot of money to go on mountain-climbing trips. Is it really worth all the time, effort and money, or would it be better to do something else with our resources?
Sri Chinmoy: You have to change your attitude. When you climb a mountain or swim the English Channel, you may call it a silly adventure, but I take it as part of our manifestation. In the world of manifestation, there is an outer history and an inner history. One is in the mind and one is in the heart. The mind’s history we will forget the next day, but the history of the heart we will forever remember. We will forever remember that somebody became inseparably one with his Guru’s will and achieved something remarkable.