Reva Parab, a 12-year-old national open water swimmer from Navi Mumbai, has garnered international recognition at the Oceanman Krabi Sea swimming competition held in Krabi, Thailand. Displaying exceptional talent and determination, Parab secured a silver medal in the junior category for the 2km race. Additionally, she achieved an impressive second-place finish in the open women's group for the same distance, completing the race in 34.45 minutes.
Oceanman Krabi is one of the toughest ocean swim competitions, featuring strong currents, high tides, and numerous jellyfish, making it incredibly challenging. The Oceanman is an annual championship that includes several competitions around the world. The first 10 men and 10 women from each stage automatically advance to the final. The 2024 Oceanman Krabi Thailand competition took place from May 17 to May 19 in Krabi, Thailand.
Reva Parab, a class six student of Father Agnel School, Vashi, mentioned that swimming at Krabi is difficult due to the presence of jellyfish. However, training under her coaches Amit Awale, Aniruddha Mahadik, and Rupali Repale helped her overcome such challenging situations. Rupali Repale who also runs a swimming academy says that since she has participated in similar coditions in another places, she sustained the challenegs.
In the past, Reva has excelled in similar open water swimming competitions. At the age of 9 years and two months, she swam from Elephanta to Gateway of India, a distance of 14 km, in just 44 minutes. She also swam from Mandwa Jetty to Gateway of India, covering 20 km in 4 hours and 3 minutes.
Additionally, she has won other open water swimming competitions in Maharashtra. Recently, at the Florid Kochi Swimathon in Periyar River, Aluva Kochi, she participated in a 10km river swimming race in the open category and finished first overall in both the men's and women's categories. Reva covered this distance in 2 hours and 41 minutes, becoming the fastest swimmer of the event.
Reva recalls that her journey into the swimming world wasn’t easy. An asthmatic child, she started swimming to find relief from asthma. Her asthma was so severe that she needed five pumps daily to go about her day-to-day life, and just swimming two laps of the pool would leave her short of breath. From there, to conquering seas and becoming a mid-distance competitive open water swimmer, her achievements are highly impressive and inspiring for many kids.