Aqua Man: Ace swimmer and cop M Tulasi Chaitanya loves going against the tide

(January 25, 2024) When M Tulasi Chaitanya arrived in Ireland to swim across the North Channel (Northern Island to Scotland) in July 2023, he was staring at a sea of challenges. The chilly waters, rough seas, strong currents and fickle weather were not the only elements he was up against. Poisonous jelly fish, sea lions and a variety of aquatic animals too posed a serious threat to his life.

Despite the odds, the iron-willed swimmer set a world record by becoming the first cop ever to swim a distance of 34.5 km in 13 hours – in what is one of the toughest open water stretches in the world. “Leave alone jelly fishes, during my English Channel swim, two sea snakes swam past me. I have encountered sharks as well,” smiles open water swimmer M Tulasi Chaitanya, in an exclusive with Global Indian.

Over the years, the 34-year-old, who works as a Police Head Constable in Special Branch, Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, has stunned the world with his mind-boggling expeditions across the globe.

Recently, he received the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2022 and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh from President of India Droupadi Murmu.

North Channel

A total of 1084 swimmers from all over the world have attempted to cross the North Channel, but only 124 have been successful so far. Chaitanya is one among them. “One of the main challenges when swimming in such chilly waters is hypothermia. Water temperature at the channel was only around 12 degrees Celsius,” informs the ace swimmer, who is the fourth Indian to accomplish the feat.

He started at 5:30 am on August 9 and achieved his target by around 6:30 pm. “To protect my skin, I applied ocean grease (petroleum jelly) before entering the water. Mid-way through, my body started to freeze but I tried to distract my mind by thinking of all the food I love to eat, and continued swimming,” informs the determined swimmer, who remained positive throughout the expedition despite getting caught in strong undercurrents and high waves.

He completed more than half of his expedition in the first five hours. Thereafter, the changing wind speeds and falling temperatures proved to be a huge challenge. “It was a proud and satisfying feeling as it put my endurance to test,” says Chaitanya, who encountered many jellyfish alongside but managed to keep himself away from them. Jellyfish produces an itching and burning sensation, which can affect the lungs and also result in instant death.

Swimming across the world

Chaitanya previously swam across the Catalina Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, English Channel and North Channel was the fourth, all of which was a rare accomplishment for a policeman. It was a part of the Ocean Seven series.

He completed the 20 Bridges Circumnavigation Swim (45.9 km) around Manhattan Island in New York City in 7 hours 45 minutes; the 26.4-km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in Lake Zürich, Switzerland and swam 12 km across Lake Bodensee, swimming from Friedrichshafen in Germany to Romanshorn.

Chaitanya is now prepping up for completing the remaining three oceans in the series by swimming across the Cook Strait in New Zealand, Molokai Channel Hawaii and The Tsugaru Strait in Japan.

Palk Strait

In 2018, Chaitanya created a new world record after swimming across the Palk Strait (Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Dhanushkodi in India) in the shortest time. He covered a distance of 39 km in 8 hours and 25 minutes.

“Here too, I was swimming against strong winds and it was a rough sea. I saw several sharks and jellyfish all along,” recalls the police man, who got stung by a jellyfish during a practice swim in the same waters, which made him vomit non-stop for two days. For the final swim though, he applied grease on his body to make it slippery and ensure that jellyfish do not get a hold of him.

For this feat, the ace swimmer started training almost an year ago. Otherwise, he was training under Olympic coach Pradeep Kumar in Bengaluru for almost six years.

He recalls how local fishermen helped him navigate. “A few of them even swam alongside and helped me find the best possible route,” he says adding that by the time he reached the Indian shores, he was both exhausted and relieved. This success paved the way for his future expeditions.