Elvis Ali Hazarika never knew what it was like to give up in life. Even after losing his father at a very early age, Hazarika continued to pursue his dream of becoming an elite swimmer.

His resilience earned him Indian national championships gold medals and silver medals in 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events at the 1999 South Asian Games in Kathmandu.

Hazarika (second from right) with his Indian teammates 

Then, in 2000, septicemia sent him into the ICU of Apollo Hospital, where he battled for his life.

The life-threatening infection reduced his weight to just 30 kilos, barely giving him a moment to mourn the death of his Olympic dream.

The swimmer from Assam had qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but the severe bloodstream infection robbed him of the opportunity to become an Olympian, the greatest ambition of every athlete. 

Yet Hazarika refused to give up.

“Doctors advised me to rest for six months. But I was back in training in two months and then made a comeback at the national championships. I didn’t win a medal, but everyone was shocked to see me compete,” Hazarika recalled.

Among the people who were shocked to see Hazarika at the Nationals was Pradeep Kumar, a revered Indian coach who was based in Dubai until 2024.

The Olympic dream remained unfulfilled, but Hazarika continued to make a splash in the pool until he retired.   

It was after he stopped swimming in the pool that his life took a dramatic turn. Retired life made him lazy as he became prone to an eating disorder. His six abs were long gone, replaced by a potbelly.

“My routine changed; there was no activity, no gym, no diet control. I gained a lot of weight and reached around 120 kilos. I was embarrassed to look in the mirror,” he said.

Then, one day in 2016, Hazarika was sitting in his living room and thinking about where my life was heading.

“I realised that if I didn’t do something immediately, things would only get worse. I felt the only way to get myself back physically and mentally was through swimming again,” he said.

But this time, Hazarika wanted to embrace the challenge of open water swimming. For a sprinter in the pool, battling the sea waves is a different challenge altogether.

Hazarika, though, was ready to accept the challenges in the sea.

But he wasn’t ready to let his wife, Pranami, know what was on his mind.

Hazarika with coach Pradeep Kumar

“I didn’t know how she would react, so I decided to talk to Pradeep Sir, who was in Dubai,” Hazarika said.

“Pradeep Sir has known me since I was 11. He was very honest with me. He said I would need to swim almost 10 hours a day if I wanted to pursue open-water swimming seriously. He also warned me that making a comeback would be extremely difficult. But then he told me, ‘I’ve known you since you were a child prodigy. I know you can do this.’”

Back in the gym after a long time, Hazarika realised how tough his mission was going to be.

“The first week was horrible. I couldn’t even run properly on the treadmill. I would trip, lose my breath and feel helpless. At one point, I even started crying,” he said.

“But then I told myself: ‘No matter what happens, I have to do this.’”

Hazarika then completely changed his lifestyle, becoming an early-morning person again, waking up at four every day.

“I started cycling, cut out rice and carbs, and shifted to protein, chicken and salads,” he said.

Within a couple of months of training, his weight came down to 75.

It was after he was back in shape that Hazarika began the actual training for open water swimming, spending two months in Phuket.   

Now the 44-year-old is among India’s most decorated open water swimmers, having completed the English Channel swim, the iconic open-water swimming challenge from England to France, in a relay mode last year.

Among his other notable long-distance challenges is swimming 33 kilometres of the Catalina Channel in the US. He also completed the Northern Ireland channel to Scotland and the extremely difficult challenge of swimming to Cape Town from Robben Island.

“Honestly, from falling off a treadmill to reaching the English Channel felt incredible,” he said.

“You know I never imagined I would make a comeback as a swimmer, let alone complete so many ocean swimming challenges after returning to the sport. People often ask me, ‘How do you swim in the sea?’ But for me, the sea has now become my home, my comfort zone. When I jump into the water, I feel completely at peace.”

Hazarika’s epic comeback in life hasn’t surprised Pradeep Kumar one bit.

“I have known him since he was a child. I have always seen that incredible fighting spirit in him,” he said.

“You know it requires an incredible level of physical and mental strength to swim in the sea. The water is extremely cold, sometimes below five degrees, and you have to train your body for those conditions as well.

“Considering everything Elvis has gone through after retirement, what he is doing now is simply amazing.”

Hazarika has also earned an admirer in Natalia Pankina, a Dubai-based coach who became the first Russian woman to swim the English Channel in 2007.

“This guy, I am impressed that he broke his mental barrier to return to the sport,” Pankina said.

“For him, it was not the technical part; he was always a swimmer, it was mental strength and the discipline to come back and do so well.”

Hazarika has already set his sights on the next challenge — joining a select group of elite swimmers to swim more than one kilometre in the freezing waters of Antarctica.

“I have already started training for it. It’s going to be the biggest challenge of my life, but I want to prove myself again,” he said.

It’s a remarkable goal for Hazarika, who faced plenty of negativity from people around him after he decided to make a comeback.

“Many asked me, ‘Why are you doing this? You will drown in the sea,” he said.

“But I wanted to prove them wrong and show the world that nothing is impossible if you truly believe in yourself.”