New Delhi, April 20 -- What started as a simple attempt to grow taller, driven by the old belief that swimming helps with height, has now brought unmatched laurels for Delhi University student Kamya Bhardwaj. A second-year BSc (Hons) Zoology student at Dyal Singh College, the 19-year-old has set a new record for a non-stop round-trip swim across the Palk Strait, a narrow and shallow stretch of water separating Tamil Nadu in India from Sri Lanka's Northern Province.

Kamya completed the 54 km journey from Arichalmunai in India to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka and back in 18 hours and 15 minutes, beating the previous record of 19 hours and 20 minutes held by swimmer Sujitha Dev Varman. "A lot of swimmer have done the stretch one way, but I wante...