The Hindu

• Dayanand Kharvi expects to reach his destination by 5 pm on Wednesday
• 20 expert swimmers to assist Dayanand Kharvi
• Four mechanised boats to provide a `swimming channel'
• To cover 150 km from Gangoli in Udupi district to Old Port at Bengre 

Mangalore, Apr 25: Dayanand Kharvi of Bengre will venture into the sea off Gangoli coast in Udupi district on Tuesday at 6 pm to break the national record in long distance swimming in the sea.

Dayanand Kharvi learnt swimming 20 years ago under the tutelage of Anand Amin, Ramakrishna Rao and NIS coach Suresh Kumar.

While he has bagged many prizes in swimming contests, it has always been a passion with him to excel in a challenge posed by swimming long distance in the sea. Recent attempts by Gopal Kharvi and Uday Puthran from Udupi to set up an endurance record in this area spurred Dayanand Kharvi, a swimming instructor at NIT-K, Suratkal, to follow suit.

Dayanand Kharvi will attempt to cover 150 km from Gangoli to Old Port (Bunder) at Bengre here. He expects to reach his destination by 5 pm on Wednesday. Around 20 expert swimmers will assist Dayanand Kharvi in his effort and set the pace for him to achieve his goal. Four mechanised boats will provide a "swimming channel" for Dayanand Kharvi and other swimmers by spreading an underwater net. Four smaller boats carrying support staff and other material will accompany the swimmers.

Dayanand Kharvi said, "All my friends have chipped in whatever they can in raising funds for this attempt of mine, and I hope to live up to their expectations.''

In an effort to gain official recognition for his effort, Dayanand Kharvi intends to send video recording of his effort to the Limca Book of Records. This expert swimmer has saved many lives in accidents and disasters.