Prisha Tapre
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | England |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
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Prisha Tapre is a British Indian endurance swimmer, youth speaker and charity fundraiser based in Hertfordshire, England. In September 2024 she completed a solo swim across the English Channel in about eleven hours forty eight minutes, becoming one of the youngest swimmers and reported as the youngest British Indian girl to complete the crossing.[1][2][3] The Channel Swimming Association recognised her as its youngest successful solo swimmer in the 2024 season.[4]
Prisha has raised more than £6,000 for Akshaya Patra UK through her swim and related events,[5] and has been featured by media including the BBC, Evening Standard, News18, Punekar News and The Tribune.[6][7][8] She is a youth ambassador for Herts Young Homeless and has delivered a TEDx youth talk on how pushing physical limits can help young people challenge stigma.[9][10]
Early life and education
Prisha grew up in Watford, Hertfordshire, in a British Indian family and began swimming in childhood.[11] She has spoken about open water as a place of calm during school pressures and examinations and about long training swims helping her manage anxiety.[11][5][2]
Prisha attends Bushey Meads School in Hertfordshire, balancing her studies with intensive open water training and charity work.[5][6][11] Reports on her Channel attempt noted that she was preparing for her GCSE examinations at the same time as she was training for the swim, completing six-hour and ten-hour swims at weekends.[2][11]
Swimming career
Prisha trains with Watford Swimming Club under open water coach Jeremy Irvine.[2][12] As a young teenager she took part in British Long Distance Swimming Association events and other marathon swims, including long training sessions in lakes near her home that she has described as her “calm place”.[11][2]
On 4 September 2024 Prisha set off from Samphire Hoe near Dover for a solo attempt to cross the English Channel from England to France, escorted by the pilot boat Louise Jane II. She completed the swim in about eleven hours forty eight minutes, landing near Cap Gris Nez in France.[1][6][2] Outdoor Swimmer and other media described choppy water in the dark early hours, jellyfish stings and a calmer finish later in the day.[12][11][7] The Channel Swimming Association recorded the swim as a successful one way solo crossing and included her among its 2024 award recipients.[4]
Coverage of the crossing in British and Indian media highlighted both her age and her attempt to encourage more participation in sport among ethnic minority communities.[6][7][11][8][3]
Charity and advocacy
Prisha used her Channel attempt to raise funds for Akshaya Patra UK, which provides school meals in India and parts of the United Kingdom. The charity presented her as a teenager aiming to “create history” with a solo Channel swim while raising money for children at risk of hunger and highlighted her explanation of why the charity reflects both the British and Indian sides of her identity.[5] By the time of the swim she had raised more than £6,000 through individual donations and community events.[6][11]
In interviews with the Evening Standard, Indian Diaspora and News18, Prisha has spoken about the under-representation of Asian girls and other ethnic minority groups in competitive swimming and said that she wants her achievements to encourage more young people from those backgrounds to take up the sport.[2][11][7] She has also described swimming as a way of managing stress and long lake swims as a form of meditation.[2][5]
As a youth ambassador for Herts Young Homeless, Prisha has supported campaigns highlighting youth homelessness in Hertfordshire and spoken about wanting her Channel swim and fundraising to help peers dealing with instability and housing insecurity.[9] She has also been involved in school-based charity drives and food collections reported by Akshaya Patra and other outlets.[5][11]
Public speaking
Alongside her swimming and charity work, Prisha has appeared as a youth speaker at schools and community events. Her TEDx talk, “Swimming Past Stigma”, given at TEDx Milton Keynes Youth, discusses how taking on difficult physical challenges helped her confront self-doubt and social expectations, and argues that sport can provide tools for young people to deal with anxiety and stigma.[10] Media coverage of her Channel swim has also included interviews with broadcasters such as NDTV, which profiled her as “the youngest British Indian to swim the Channel solo”.[13]
Recognition
The Channel Swimming Association listed Prisha among its successful solo swimmers for 2024 and named her youngest successful swimmer in its annual awards.[1][4] Outdoor Swimmer, News18, Indian Diaspora and other outlets have presented her Channel crossing as part of a wider story about representation and mental resilience in sport.[12][7][11] Punekar News reported her as setting a world record as the youngest swimmer to cross the Channel at sixteen, highlighting her links to Pune and Maharashtra.[3]
In 2023 she received the Elise Brook Encouragement & Perseverance Trophy from the British Long Distance Swimming Association, awarded for an outstanding junior swim during its open water season.[14]
In February 2025 Prisha was named Young Achiever of the Year at Watford Borough Council’s Audentior Awards, which recognise community champions in the town and are hosted by the Mayor of Watford.[15][16][17]
Personal life
Prisha lives in Hertfordshire with her family. Outside swimming and public speaking she has been involved in student leadership and mentoring at school and continues to combine academic study with open water training and charity work.[11][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Prisha Tapre 2024". Channel Swimming Association. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Grace, Aisling (8 September 2024). "Teenage girl who swam solo across the Channel: This is just the start". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Pune: Prisha Tapre sets world record as youngest swimmer to cross the English Channel at 16". Punekar News. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "CSA Awards 2024". Channel Swimming Association. Retrieved 23 November 2025.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Will swim to fight hunger". Akshaya Patra UK. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Watford teenager among youngest to swim English Channel". BBC News. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "16-year-old Prisha Tapre swims through the English Channel to promote sports within ethnic minorities". News18. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "British Indian teen completes solo English Channel swim for charity". The Tribune. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Prisha Tapre on youth homelessness and resilience". Herts Young Homeless via Facebook. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Swimming Past Stigma – Prisha Tapre (TEDx Milton Keynes Youth)". YouTube. TEDx Milton Keynes Youth. 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 "British Indian teen Prisha Tapre completes solo English Channel swim for charity". Indian Diaspora. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "A Channel swimmer photostory". Outdoor Swimmer. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ "The youngest British Indian to swim the Channel – solo". NDTV. 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ "2023 Season Trophy Winners". British Long Distance Swimming Association. 27 April 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ "Audentior Awards 2025 celebrate Watford's community champions". Watford Borough Council. 6 February 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ "Audentior Award Winner 2025 – Young Achiever of the Year – Prisha Tapre". Facebook. Watford Borough Council. 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ↑ "Watford Mayor celebrates community champions at Audentior Awards 2025". Watford Liberal Democrats. 18 February 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
External links
- Channel Swimming Association record of Prisha Tapre’s solo swim
- Akshaya Patra UK article on Prisha’s fundraiser
- Channel swim video diary
Category:Living people Category:English female swimmers Category:People from Hertfordshire Category:English people of Indian descent Category:Charity fundraisers Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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