Dr. Khwaja Muhammed Sultanul Aziz is a luminary in the global aquatics and marine sciences communities. The Bangladesh native is the Honorary Lifetime Secretary General of the Asia Swimming Federation and former member of the FINA Sports Medicine Committee. He is a renowned microbiologist who is a Fellow with the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences who has a Ph.D. from Duke University majoring in botany and specializing in marine phycology.

He has traveled the world serving as an administrator and referee at professional marathon swims and FINA events.

But his interests are vast and one of his passions is educating local communities and international societies about how swimming an intrinsic part of life, a topic he presented at the 2012 Global Open Water Swimming Conference in Long Beach, California.

One of his concerns and passions is the scourge of death due to drowning in countries around the world, especially in Asia where the aquatic disaster hits families on a daily basis. Death by drowning, especially among the youth, ranges from 32 children who die EVERY day in Vietnam to 46 children who die EVERY day in Bangladesh. “Drowning is the highest cause of death is in Bangladesh,” explains Dr. Aziz. “Every 45 seconds one child dies from drowning in Asia; a total of 16,570 children die from drowning every year.”

Swimming for life never meant to much to so many people.

And teaching people how to swim has so many other wellness benefits on an individual level. “Swimming helps with obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, some chronic kidney diseases, cardiac problems, and many more,” Dr. Aziz describes with a passion. “And there are many environmental considerations. That is, if people start to swim in rivers, bays, lakes, and oceans, then they will begin to care more about its cleanliness and ultimately this can lead to improved environmental conditions.”

Photos from In The River They Swim.

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming