20 under 20: Arbin and Larissa - Swimming Bangladesh into new horizons
In this special series, TBS features 20 athletes under the age of 20 who represent the best of Bangladesh’s sporting future
There's a saying in life that you either sink or swim and 10-year-old Syeda Larissa Roseanne and 15-year-old Syed Arbin Ayaan chose the latter, long-distance swimming.
Larissa swam across eight kilometres of the 16.1 km Bangla Channel in the Fortune Bangla Channel Swimming competition in December 2021 in four-and-a-half hours while her brother Syed Arbin Ayaan conquered nine kilos in the same time span.
They participated in the competition along with their father and swimming instructor, Syed Akhteruzzamam.
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Larissa and Arbin first started swimming in 2017 under the mentorship of noted swimmer Fazlul Kabir Sina a coach at Gulshan Youth Club.
The siblings had a long break from swimming from 2017 to 2021 but after getting vaccinated, they resumed their training under their father, also a swimming instructor, who rented various pools around Dhaka to help them prepare and practice.
"For the Fortune Bangla Channel Swimming competition, we were trained to eat food while floating in the water. 40 flags were stretched across the Bangla Channel for our navigation," says Arbin.
Boats were stationed after every 300 metres to help navigate and provide the swimmers with food and clean water at regular intervals.
"I had no fears while swimming because my father and brother were swimming with me and my mother was cheering for us from the boats," shares Larissa.
However, Arbin vomited while swimming, and as a result, felt exhausted. "Naturally, I fell behind the group. But I fought on. We gave up because of the high tides," he adds.
Inclement weather hit unfortunately and as a result, the rescue team advised the young swimmers to stop.
Although they did not successfully cross the Bangla Channel, they have shown great determination and endeavour to do something that most don't dare to even think of.
They still have dreams to cross the Bangla Channel but that's not all, they also want to do long-distance swimming in other countries too.
"This is just the beginning for us because we want to do much more. We want to show that age is not a barrier for us to do what adults are doing," Arbin expresses.
They want to make long-distance swimming more popular in Bangladesh too.
"Currently, our father is a swimming instructor and he's showing us that we can make a career from this. We want to encourage more people and parents to do the same as this is fun and a healthy way of life," Larissa explains.
In a country with so many waterbodies, long-distance swimming is something that can become a popular sport, keep the next generation interested in a healthier life and also potentially bring the country glory.
