"As we all know, the sea is very unpredictable. It throws a new challenge every time. This year there was a strong drift on the way back after the halfway mark. All the swimmers were dragged by the current far from the path, so a lot of effort had to be put in to come back on track again. Last year there were jellyfish and I got stung at two places,” remarked 70-year-old Pervin Batliwala. She was among the four Zoroastrians who had participated and earned a podium at Aquamoga 2025, a three-day water sports festival organized by Enduro Sports Goa from February 21 to 23, 2025. "These challenges bring in a lot of excitement and fun,” she recalled.
Batliwala stood first in two events in the Veteran Women’s (60+ years) category. She aced the Goa Aquathlon involving 1.5 km of open water sea swimming followed by 10 km run, an event introduced for the first time with a timing of 2:20:28. The prior day she secured the first place in the same category in the 1 km open water swim with a timing of 43:47. There were 48 participants altogether across all age groups for the Aquathlon and 71 in the Masters, Seniors and Veterans for the 1 km event, according to the website endurosportsgoa.com.
From l, 1st row: Valerie and Zarir Baliwalla, Tayunaz
Merchant, Pervin Batliwala; 2nd row: Valerie and
Zarir Baliwalla, Merchant
Also emerging as winners in the Veteran category were 64-year-old Zarir Baliwalla and his wife Valerie, 62, who both participated in the 2 km open water swimming. While Valerie stood first among the Veteran females with a timing of 1:11:49, Zarir stood third among the Veteran males with a timing of 1:11:54. On the first day he had participated in the 5 km race when his timing of 1:45:50 helped him secure the first place among Veteran males and sixth among 96 participants across all age groups.
Yet another Zoroastrian swimmer who participated in the 2 km race and earned podium position was Tayunaz Merchant who came second with a timing of 49:47 among the Senior females (40-59 years). The 2 km race had 108 participants in the Masters (25 to 39 years), Seniors and Veterans category.
This was Batliwala’s third year at the Goa Swimathon when she had to "put in minimal effort. Since I ran the Mumbai half marathon a few weeks before the event, the 10 km run required no training. The last few months have been very satisfying where I participated in the Satara, Vasai Virar and the Tata Mumbai half marathons and got podiums,” she informed Parsiana. While confident of her breaststroke, she did take a few swimming sessions. My full concentration now is on learning the freestyle for which I have Ashutosh Barve as my coach.”
"The event date has been scheduled during the cooler months of the year at a neap (moderate) tide (during first and third quarter moon when the moon appears semi circular) as well as during low tide... These patterns have been found to reduce the numbers of jellyfish in the water at the given time,” specified the Enduro Sports website offering guidelines on how to prevent and handle jellyfish stings.
Zarir was happy that there was no jellyfish inconvenience this year though he too referred to the "very bad southern drift on the second and third day of the meet” that caused swimmers to stray off the main course. "Focusing on the direction rather than the race and speed required you to keep breaking your rhythm. Visibility too was a slight issue at the 1 km mark when we had to turn back but could not see the shore nor the buoys.” Fortunately for Valerie, she "had a guide so it was different.” We realized later that Zarir served as her guide! Both of them had won prizes at the Goa Swimathon in the past too (see "Asian Oceanman,” Sports, Parsiana, August 21-September 6, 2023) but after this year’s experience Valerie announced that she would return to the 1 km swimathons despite the intensive coaching she does under Barve at the Breach Candy pool.
"No race can compare to the other and expecting the unexpected is all one can expect from the mighty ocean, leaving one humbled yet exhilarated time and again,” commented 57-year-old Merchant. "I have taken part in eight open water races all over India and the world in the past 12 months — from the pristine waters in Palermo, Sicily to one of the famous Blue Flag beaches India has to offer, Padubidri in Udipi, Mangalore,” stated Merchant who won gold in the nationals — Master category (50-60 years) — representing Maharashtra. Participants in races vary from 150 to 550 and even more as in the recent Ocean Man World Final in Dubai where she ranked eighth.
Aiming to compete in as many water bodies in the country and around the globe as she possibly can, the Bombay based food consultant trains four or five times a week at either The Breach Candy Swimming Bath Trust or the Willingdon Sports Club, each swim session varying from 1.5 km to 3 km. She has recently added a strength training program on land twice a week to her routine.
"Open Water Swimming helped me overcome a tragic loss two years ago. I found a sense of purpose and happiness whilst training but the highlight for me is when I race. The adrenalin rush I get once the race starts while diving through a herd of humans, struggling not to get kicked in the face while keeping the heart rate down so I don’t get exhausted, sighting efficiently so I don’t swim extra. Dodging jelly fish and (muscle) cramps but most importantly managing the push and pull of the tide are just some of the thoughts racing through my mind while powering through the water.”