Arati Gupta (Saha)' (24 September 1940 - 23 August 1994) was born in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. Arati was initiated in swimming at the early age of four, and her talent was spotted by Sachin Nag.Sachin Nag was a great swimming champion of India.He often used to say that in spite of other sports, instructors should give importance to swimming also because swimming is the best exercise and no physical or mental development is possible for a player without swimming. He also trained Arati Saha and Nafisa Ali who had received various recognitions for Bengal as well as of India.
From 1945 to 1951 she won 22 State competitions including an all-India record in 1949. She took part in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 along with Dolly Bindra.She was inspired by Indian swimmer Mihir Sen to try and cross the English Channel. On 29 September 1959 she was the first woman from Asia to swim the English Channel, from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England.
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent.She swam the 42 miles in 16 hours 20 minutes, and hoisted the flag of India at Sandgate. She was awarded Padmashri in the year 1960. She died on 23 August 1994 of jaundice. In 1998, a set of Indian stamps was issued to commemorate the contribution of Indian women in various fields, including Arati Gupta.her daughter's name is archana gupta who teaches life science in salt lake school in kolkata.
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