Mihir Sen (English: Mihir Sen, born- 16 November, 1930, Purulia, West Bengal; died- 11 June, 1997, Kolkata) was a famous long distance swimmer of India. In 1966, he swam a distance of 77 kilometers from one end of the Panama Canal to the other. Mihir Sen was not only the first Indian but also the first Asian to swim across the English Channel in 1958. He achieved unique proficiency in ‘salt water’ swimming and created 5 important records. He was awarded ‘Padma Shri’ in 1959 and was honored with ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1967.
Mihir Sen was born on 16 November 1930 in Purulia, West Bengal. His father’s name was Dr. Ramesh Sen Gupta and mother’s name was Lilavati. Father was a physician. Mihir Sen was a barrister in the Calcutta High Court, but he is best known as a record-setting swimmer. Mihir Sen had gone to England to prepare for his law practice, but there he became attracted towards swimming the English Channel. Initially he also made some unsuccessful attempts to cross the Channel by swimming. But on September 27, 1958, he was successful in swimming across the English Channel, thus becoming not only the first Indian but also the first Asian to cross the English Channel. He took 14 hours 45 minutes to cross the English Channel. He made this swim from Dover to Calais. Thus, through his courage and swimming, he opened new avenues for other Indian swimmers to become more proficient in long distance swimming.[1]
Mihir Sen’s next adventure was to swim from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkoti in India, which he completed in 25 hours 44 minutes starting on April 6, 1966. This Palk Strait was full of many poisonous snakes and sharks. His courageous work was assisted by the Indian Navy. After this, Mihir Sen crossed Gibraltar Dar-e-Daniel, which is between Spain and Morocco, in 8 hours 1 minute on August 24, 1966. Mihir Sen was the first Asian to swim across Gibraltar. It seemed as if he was determined to swim across all the seven oceans and indeed he crossed many oceans and set 5 new records in 1966.
On September 12, 1966, he swam across the Dardanelles. He was the first person in the world to cross the Dardanelles. Only nine days after that i.e. [21 सितम्बर]]by swimming across the phosphorous. On October 29, 1966, he began his first swim across the Panama Canal. Due to length, he covered this distance in two stages. Starting on October 29, he completed his swim to Panama on October 31, 1966. To cross this Panama Canal, he swam for 34 hours and 15 minutes. Mihir Sen swam a total of 600 kilometers in sea. He set a new record by swimming a distance of 6 miles in a single calendar year. Mihir Sen was the first person in the world to swim across the seven seas of the five continents.[1]
Awards and Honors Due to Mihir Sen’s courageous and unmatched achievements, he was awarded ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India in 1959 and ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1967.
Mihir Sen was an incomparable swimmer, who took such a huge risk in swimming on the basis of his courage and hard work. He was the President of ‘Explorers Club of India’. In the last days of his life he lost his memory and led a miserable life. Mihir Sen died on June 11, 1997 in Kolkata at the age of 67.