Anita Sood

Anita Sood is an Indian swimmer whose career connects national pool competition with one of the notable Channel performances of the 1980s. She trained with Sandeep Divgikar at Mumbai’s Otters Club. Contemporary reporting about the coach describes Sood as an early leading pupil and links his long-distance coaching to her Channel preparation.

Her achievements in the pool had already brought national recognition: the Swimming Federation of India lists her as a 1983 Arjuna Award recipient. In a later interview, Sood singled out her victories at the 1986 Nationals among the memories she valued most from competition.

She crossed from England to France in 8 hours 15 minutes in 1987. Dover’s individual entry supplies the date, 17 August, while the Channel Swimming Association confirms the successful solo and names her as the recipient of its Fastest Swim by a Lady award for that year. The time and annual award capture the significance of the performance without treating a historical record description as a current ranking.

Sood’s 2004 interview also reflects on life after elite competition and the transition to family responsibilities. World Aquatics maintains an individual profile under Anita Sood, while the CS&PF’s swimmer index also records the surname form Sood-Mankar.