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Indian-origin Man Becomes First Canadian to Swim Across Strait of Magellan

Madhu Nagaraj, a software engineer from Ontario, swam across the strait in one hour 19 minutes.

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Madhu Nagaraj, 47, became the first Canadian to swim across the Strait of Magellan, the route between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. On the same day, American swimmer Michelle Macy also completed the route.

Nagaraj, a software engineer from Oakville, Ontario, was successful in his second attempt on Nov. 29. He is the 23rd person to complete the 3.9-kilometer swim. He swam in waters as cold as 4°C and minimum winds of 50 km/hr with waves that were 2 meter high, CBC News reported.

“The experience of failure is a tricky thing, and it’s all so massive,” Nagaraja told CBC. “How do you face that? How do you build a support system to make yourself believe in the things that you’ve done and get back and focus on getting across?”

He completed the latest journey, which he said was the hardest in his life, in one hour 19 minutes. Nagaraj is an experienced open-water swimmer and has crossed the English Channel earlier. He has also completed long-distance challenges in Lake Ontario.

He cited two reasons for making the attempt in November — the desire to honor Canada’s 150th birthday this year, and to pay tribute to 16th century explorer Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the strait is named.

“These early navigators … made it a point to get around the world with absolutely no data,” he told CBC. “It’s their personalities, it’s the way they looked at solving a problem or looking at an adventure.”

Nagaraj’s first attempt at the feat was in 2015, when he had to be pulled out of the water by the Chilean Navy, which has jurisdiction over the strait at the tip of South America. He suffered from severe hypothermia at the time.

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