Vaikom: A six-year-old becomes the youngest girl to swim across the Vembanad Lake. 

Gayatri Praveen, the daughter of Praveen and Chinchu, hailing from Kothamangalam, reached Cherthala with her family at around 8 am on Saturday. MLA Daleema flagged off the swimming. 

Gayatri swam 4.5 km in 1.24 hours and reached Vaikom Lake Beach by 9:57 am and was welcomed by Vaikom Tehsildar TN Vijayan. 

Actor Chembil Ashokan inaugurated the event to felicitate Gayatri. Vaikom municipality chairperson presided over the event. 

Gayatri is a Class 1 student at Canadian Central School, Puthuppady. Her brother, Arjun, a third-standard student, is also a swimmer and attends training sections with his sister. Gayatri is coached by Biju Thangappan.