Arati Saha (1940–1994) was an Indian long-distance swimmer from Bengal, best known for becoming the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel. Her crossing in September 1959 made her one of the earliest internationally recognised Indian women athletes and earned her the Padma Shri in 1960, reportedly making her the first Indian sportswoman to receive the honour.
| Full name | Arati Saha |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 September 1940, Calcutta, Bengal Province, British India |
| Died | 23 August 1994, Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Sport | Swimming (long-distance / open water) |
| Coach | Sachin Nag |
| Notable feat | First Asian woman to swim the English Channel (1959) |
| Honour | Padma Shri (1960) |
Arati Saha was born on 24 September 1940 in a Bengali family in Calcutta. She began swimming at a very young age and was trained at clubs in the city, eventually coming under the guidance of Sachin Nag, an Olympic swimmer who represented India at the 1948 London Olympics. By the late 1940s, she was already winning age-group events at state-level meets in Bengal.
As a teenager, Saha won numerous state and national titles in freestyle and breaststroke events. She represented West Bengal at national swimming championships and accumulated medals across multiple distances during the early 1950s.
At the age of 11, Saha was part of the Indian contingent at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, competing in swimming events. She was among the youngest members of the Indian team at those Games.
Inspired by Mihir Sen's successful crossing of the English Channel in 1958, Saha attempted the swim with support from public subscriptions and from the Government of West Bengal under Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy. Her first attempt on 24 July 1959 was unsuccessful. On 29 September 1959, on her second attempt, she swam from Cape Gris-Nez in France to Sandgate on the English coast, completing the crossing in approximately 16 hours and 20 minutes. She thereby became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel.
In 1960, Saha was conferred the Padma Shri by the Government of India in recognition of her achievement. She is widely cited as the first Indian woman sportsperson to receive the award. In 1999, the Department of Posts of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in her memory. A road in south Kolkata was named after her, and her life has been the subject of biographies and television features in Bengali and Hindi.
After her competitive career, Saha continued to be associated with swimming in Bengal as an administrator and mentor. She died in Kolkata on 23 August 1994.
Arati Saha's English Channel swim is regarded as a landmark moment for Indian women in sport, occurring at a time when participation by Indian women in international athletic events was limited. Her achievement, alongside that of Mihir Sen, helped establish a tradition of Indian long-distance open-water swimming that later swimmers such as Bula Choudhury and Taranath Shenoy continued.