Jiya Rai, the daughter of an Indian naval sailor, has achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first Indian recipient of the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) Award in the Adaptive Performance of the Year category. This prestigious award, established in 2008, honors exceptional accomplishments in the realm of open-water swimming.For the 2024 awards, a total of 177 nominees were considered, with the final selections made by an advisory board comprising 83 members, alongside more than 6,000 public votes. On July 28, 2024, Rai accomplished the extraordinary feat of swimming solo across the English Channel, a distance of 34 kilometers, which she completed in 17 hours and 25 minutes. Notably, she is recognized as the youngest female para-swimmer and the first girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder to achieve this challenging swim.In addition to this recent accolade, Rai was previously awarded India’s National Award for Disability in 2023 and the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in 2022, which is the highest civilian honor for individuals under the age of 18 in the country.
