It was a day of double joy for the parents of S Sudhay, 15, and S Mritul, 12, from Coimbatore, as the brothers set new records in swimming at the Yuva Bharathi Public School here on Monday.

Raising the bar and doing more than expected, the brothers surprised everyone at the arena as they covered a combined distance of 22.65 km in an eight-hour swimathon.

Sudhay, a class ten student, swam for five hours at a stretch and covered a distance of 13.35 km, using a medley technique that involved all four strokes: freestyle, breast, butterfly and back. Meanwhile, his younger brother Mritul impressed everyone by covering 9.3 km in the stipulated three hours with freestyle technique. The brothers had initially attempted to cover distances of 12 kms and 9 kms respectively in the stipulated time, but managed to achieve more.

The result was five awards in different age groups. The brothers have now found a place in the records they had applied for, including Elite World Records, Unique World Records, Asian Records Academy, Thamizhan Book of Records and India Records Academy.

Sharing the proud moment, their mother S Bhanumathi said that the family was happy and proud, though the boys themselves seemed nonchalant about the achievement.

“Swimming is an exercise and a discipline; their true interest is set to lead them to IIT,” said Bhanumathi.

Sudhay, who has completed a course in Application Development, wants to purse his interest in computers. Mritul too, has the same ambition and the brothers have laid the foundation for their dream with a website, ‘www.know yours.weebly.com’, which aims to make technology accessible to the needy and the old. These talented boys seem to be winners at anything they try their hands at, whether sports or studies.