By IANS
Kolkata : Queen of seas Bula Chowdhury is planning to establish a swimming academy here to train young aspirants in sprinting and long distance swimming.
Bula, who has been among those awarded the Padmashri that stands fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards, told IANS: “The academy is my gift to the next generation of swimmers.
“The Padmashri is a recognition of swimming as a sport in a country where all other disciplines are at a discount before cricket. I hope someday swimming will get its deserved place under the sun,” she said Monday.
She hoped that the award conferred on her would give adventure sports the recognition it deserves.
In August 2004, Bula became the first woman in the world to cross seven seas when she swam across the Palk Straits from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu.
“I plan to build an academy for which West Bengal Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya has promised me a marshy land near Patuli in the southeastern fringes of Kolkata. But the major problem will be to build the infrastructure,” said Bula, who is also a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator from Nandanpur in West Midnapore district.
“Money will be a major problem. I have no sponsor backing me and I will have to start a campaign to gather money for the academy. But I have the drive and determination to do it,” she said.
The Arjuna Award winner said she was humbled at receiving such the Padmashri and hoped to continue serving the nation in any manner that she can.
Bula, however, expressed her shock at Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee terming her Padmashri glory an appeasement to the CPI-M.
“I am shocked that she could react like this. I won this not as a CPI-M legislator but as a swimmer,” she said.