Brojen Das


Brojen Das was a Bengali swimmer, who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it six times.

Early life and education

Brojen was born in the Kuchiamora village of Bikrampur, Bangladesh. His father was Harendra Kumar Das. He completed the matriculation exam in 1946 from KL Jubilee High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vidyasagar College in Calcutta.

Swimming

Since boyhood Brojen practised swimming in Buriganga River. After his own initiative, the East Pakistan Sports Federation introduced an annual swimming competition in Dhaka in 1953. He was invited to take part in the English Channel Swimming Competition in 1958. As a part of his training he swam in Shitalakshya River, in lower Meghna River and a distance of 46 miles starting from Narayanganj to Chandpur. Prior to the competition, he also swam in the Mediterranean Sea from Capri to Naples.
At midnight on 18 August 1958, Brojen began swimming to cross the English Channel along with other competitors from 23 countries. He completed the course on the next day after noon.
Brojen crossed the English Channel a total of 6 times from 1958 to 1961.

Achievements

Local

Brojen was detected to have cancer in June 1997. He went to Calcutta, India, for treatment, and died there on 1 June 1998. His funeral was held at Postagola cremation site in Dhaka on 3 June 1998.