Swimming hero Nandi dies

Dhaka, Nov 16 (bdnews24.com) – National swimming hero Arun Kumar Nandi died on Sunday morning in Kolkata at the age of 67.

The former joint-secretary of the Bangladesh Swimming Federation (2003-2006) had been suffering from kidney disease and respiratory complications, travelling to Kolkata for treatment on Nov 5. He passed away at his sister's residence in the West Bengal capital.

The swimmer's body was being brought back to his home district Chandpur for the funeral, said a swimming federation official.

A life-long bachelor, Nandi was born in the village of Baghadi in Chandpur on Nov 26 in 1941.

He undertook a marathon swim of 90 hours and five minutes in one stretch, at Bou Bazar in West Bengal in October 1971, to draw the world's attention to the suffering of war-torn Bangladesh during its Liberation War.

The feat also brought a new world record for Nandi, who began swimming at the age of nine through a local competition where he finished first. He went on to take part in long-distance swimming events such as Daudkandi to Narayanganj and Chandpur to Narayangan.

After independence, Nandi took three days to cross 70 miles of waterway from Dhaka's Mirpur to Chandpur in 1974.

Nandi, never a traditional competitor, preferring to display physical feats of endurance in the water, was bestowed the National Sports Award in 1996.

He, however, supprted the younger generation in competitive swimming and his desire was to donate some Tk 2 lakh as an endowment to develop upcoming swimming stars.

National sports council chairman and army chief General Moeen U Ahmed, BSF president navy chief Rear Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam, Bangladesh Olympic Association secretary general Kutubuddin Ahmed and NSC, BSF and BOA officials expressed their condolences and deepest sympathies to the family of the renowned swimmer.

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