Jiya Rai, the daughter of a serving naval sailor, has made history by winning the prestigious World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) Award 2024 in the category of Adaptive Performance of the Year. The WOWSA Awards, recognised as the highest global honours in the field of open-water swimming, were established in 2008. This year’s winners were announced on February 17, 2025, in San Francisco, California. Jiya Rai’s achievement marks a significant milestone as she becomes the first Indian open-water swimmer to receive this esteemed award.

Jiya Rai's extraordinary journey in open water swimming has been marked by remarkable feats of endurance and perseverance. On July 28, 2024, she successfully swam across the English Channel, covering a distance of 34 kilometres in 17 hours and 25 minutes. This incredible achievement made her the youngest female para-swimmer in the world to complete a solo swim across the English Channel. In addition, Jiya became the first girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the history of open-water swimming to accomplish this feat.