At the age of 31, Tanvi Deore looked at her life and felt something was amiss. She was a businesswoman, mother, wife, and daughter, but she yearned for something more.

“The life I was living was not enough for me,” she realised. As a  champion swimmer, she missed the water and longed to reconnect with it.

The search for self-love led her back to her first passion: swimming. She didn’t just want to swim; she set herself a herculean task.

In January 2022, over a cup of tea, she confided in her husband about her wish to fulfil one of her childhood dreams — to swim the English Channel, a daunting long-distance challenge spanning over 33 kilometres from England to France.

Even before setting foot in a pool, the 33-year-old took a bold step and registered for the swim.

After 18 years away from the water, she returned to the pool and felt whole again. “My muscle memory kicked in, and as I went underwater, I realised that this was what I wanted. This was my happy place. I cried that day as it gave me so much joy,” Tanvi says.

She trained for the English Channel swim under the guidance of coach Srikaanth Viswanathan, an accomplished open-water swimmer.

She practised from 4 am daily, waking up at three, all while managing her then three-year-old twins. It was a rollercoaster ride, involving a complete overhaul of her lifestyle and schedule.

The journey was not easy; she couldn’t swim for over 20 minutes at a time and often felt exhausted. Guilt over leaving her children weighed heavily on her, but she persisted.

Soon, she began swimming in open water at dams around Nashik.

To acclimatise to the cold conditions of the English channel, she started taking ice baths for an hour, from 2 am to 3 am.

She also spent a week practising in Nainital’s Naini lake, which has conditions similar to those of the Channel.

Throughout this period, Tanvi balanced her training with a full-time job, swimming from 4 am to 7 am and again after work.

Two months before the challenge, she took a break from work to swim for eight hours daily, focusing on recovery. Swimming in the exact conditions helped the swimmer’s body acclimate to the cold water.

On 29 June, 2024, Tanvi successfully swam the unforgiving waters from Dover, UK, to France in 17 hours and 42 minutes.

Along the way, she braved jellyfish stings, challenging tides, and the notorious ‘swimmer’s grave,’ where she was trapped in the same spot for over three hours.

“It was the biggest mission of my life. I feel fulfilled and extremely happy. Everyone knows me today as Tanvi’s father, what else do I need,” says Kiran, her father.

Tanvi is a powerful example of what a person can accomplish when they set their mind to it. So, what’s stopping you?