Hyderabad: Dr Queeni Victoria Gandam, a mother of two, from Hyderabad became the first lady from the two Telugu-speaking states to cross the English channel on Wednesday in a relay swim from England to France which had a team of eight.
She covered a distance of 71 km amid water temperatures between 12 and 14 degrees. The team took 60 hours fifty minuets. Queeni, 43, took up swimming when she was taking her kids for the swimming classes. “The children asked me also to join them,” she said.
Queeni, a fashion designer by profession, enjoys cooking. She explained, “We started at around 11 pm. My turn to enter water was in the early hours as the dawn was breaking. The water was freezing and the sun was tearing the sky and peeping out.”
“As I was swimming, my body was shivering due to cold and tiredness. Jelly fishes coming and kissing me was an amazing feel and that again boosted my energy.” she said.
“When I got my second lap, I was near the French course. The tides were high, water was chilling. After entering the water, it took around three minutes to get adjusted and come to the free style,” she narrated.
Earlier, Queeni participated Turkey Masters International Invitational meet in 2019, Cario World Underwater Finswimming Championship in June 2023 and Serbia Open Water Finswimming Championship in September 2023.
