His father was a doctor in Cuttack. He went to England to prepare himself for the bar but was attracted to swim across the Channel. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he became the first Indian to swim the English Channel, from Dover to Calais on September 27, 1958.
Mihir Sen was the first Indian man to swim the English Channel. He achieved this feat on September 27, 1958, when he crossed the Channel in 14 hours and 45 minutes. He also became the world's fastest one to swim across the English Channel.
Mihir Sen was born on November 16, 1930, in Purulia, West Bengal. His father was a doctor in Cuttack. He went to England to study law but was attracted towards swimming. After achieving the feat of swimming across English Channel, Mihir Sen went on to achieve several other milestones. In 1966, Mihir Sen swam across the seven seas of the five continents. In April 1966, braving high tides and shark-infested waters, he swam across the Palk Straits, the sea between India and Sri Lanka. This swim was between Ceylon and Dhanushkodi. Admiral Chatterjee supported him sending INS Sukanya and INS Sharada with him. In August, he crossed the Straits of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco and one month later became the world's first man to swim the Straits of Dardanelles. In the same year Mihir Sen also swam across the Bosphorus and the Panama Canal.
Mihir Sen was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959 and Padma Bhushan in 1967.