This year, the government of Assam will bestow the civilian honour to 22 recipients. Among them, Elvis Ali Hazarika, the Assamese maven swimmer is also listed in it. He will be conferred with Assam Saurav laureate for his accomplishments in the sports field. The award distribution ceremony will take place at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra.
Elvis Ali Hazarika, a son of Assam makes history by being the first person from Northeast to successfully cross the English Channel on both sides. He completed this within the time frame of 31hrs and 78km long stretch by swimming from Hampshire of England to Calais of France, on the 19th of July last year.
At a very young age, he developed himself into an expert swimmer. He began to learn his lessons when was one and a half year old, and by the age of four he was able to swim across Dighali Pukhuri. At nine, he represented India in the South Asian Federation Games and also took part in the Asian Pacific Championship. His specializations include freestyle, butterfly and individual medley strokes.