Smooth seas never make a skilled sailor and Nethra Kumanan has taken the tough and the calm with equal ease. Her gentle voice and demeanour belie the tough sailor that she is. She is the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics and also the first Indian sailor to get a direct entry into the Summer Games. She also secured a Paris 2024 quota.
An avid lover of sport, she has tried her hand at various sports and arts like tennis, Kalarippayattu, music, piano, Bharatanatyam and more. However, she found her true love with sailing.
Nethra’s parents were particular that she was exposed to a lot of sport from childhood. Her first tryst with a sailing win was in 2011. 14-year-old Nethra won her very first weekend sailing race at an annual summer camp conducted by the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association. Till date she is a member of the association and represents them.
She sails the ILCA 6 in the Laser Radial category, this is a small, dinghy-style boat sailed single-handedly. We asked her how she felt on her Olympic qualification she says, “I was expecting to qualify last year but it did not happen. This time we knew I could do it. So now having done it was a relief.”
On being asked which was her most memorable win, she replied, “I think I had a few events that I came quite close to winning this year. Those taught me the most lessons and I have improved. But the most memorable, I think there was a World Cup Bronze just before COVID in 2020. It was a small fleet, but it was still a medal I was not expecting. Until the last day, I didn’t know I had it, but I won the medal race.”
What does it take to make a good sailor? “I think in any sport, you just need to be willing to put in the work and be patient. But in sailing, because it’s not well known in India, we’ve had to go abroad and find experts there and work with them to bridge that gap that we have with the European and American countries.” She trains with Hungarian coach Tamas Eszes at a sailing academy based in Grand Canaria.
What are the challenges she faces? Speaking for herself and the other sailor who qualified from India she says,“We have to work a lot harder to make the boat go much faster. You can earn points in races by gaining one or two meters over other boats. It’s a lot of physical work, decision making and positioning compared to other boats to win races. And then you need to find your speed and for this you must be really physically active in the boat.”
Her words of advice for aspiring sailors is,“In the beginning it could be tough to find support, but once you manage that and qualify, support will come in. Sponsors are tough still but the TN Government has been a strong support and so has my alumni, SRM College.” We wish her all the best as she trains for the Paris Olympics.