Chennai kid swims to raise awareness on plastic pollution in ocean

Scuba diving instructor Aravind Tharunsri’s eight-year-old daughter Thaaragai Aarathana has a unique goal – to clean up plastic waste in the ocean. On January 24, she swam 19 km from Kovalam to Neelankarai in just six hours and 14 minutes. Though tired after swimming continuously, Thaaragai Aarathana was happy to share her experience with us. “After my first scuba diving at Rameswaram, I realised how much the ocean is polluted. I wanted to create awareness of the importance of saving the ocean,” says Thaaragai Aarathana, excitedly.

The eight-year-old was accompanied by her father Aravind and a team of divers, safety swimmers, and doctors. “We planned to start swimming at 6 in the morning. But it rained and we started swimming around 7.40. The temperature dropped suddenly and my daughter started shivering and got muscle cramps. So, every time she gets cramps, we were helping her release muscle spasms. That was the only challenge we faced. We kept the target of 18 km, but to our surprise, she swam for 19 km. Thaaragai Aarathana started floating in the water she was nine months old and started to swim by the time she turned three. Whenever I go scuba diving, I take my daughter along with me. She has seen me collecting plastic which gets dumped and washed into the sea. That’s how she developed an interest in saving the ocean,” explains Aravind Tharunsri.