India's trailblazer Nethra Kumanan ready to build on her Tokyo experience

India’s first ever sailor at the Tokyo Games, she is now on the eve of her second Olympic outing.

And the 26-year-old from Chennai is looking to build on her experience from three years ago when she competes in Marseille.

 

Getting on the water

Kumanan’s road to becoming India’s maiden female sailor to qualify for the Olympics started when she was 12.

 

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By that time, she had already tried her hand at art, soccer, tennis, skating, piano, Kalaripayattu, basketball, Bharatanatyam and plenty more.

It was at a Tamil Nadu Sailing Association summer camp that she caught the sailing bug.

Enchanted by being out on the ocean with the wind whipping around her and the sun beating down, it quickly became apparent there was no turning back.

“I love it, it’s like no other sport, and I played everything as a kid,” Kumanan said.

“Sailing has been different and more mental than any other sport that I’ve tried.”

Every spare moment was spent on the water, honing her craft and making the step up to competing in professional international competition.

A decade ago, Kumanan began to establish herself as her nation’s top sailor with bronze at the laser radial event at the India International Championship, before winning consecutive golds at the YAI Senior National Championship and Multiclass Senior Nationals in Mumbai in 2015.

In order to take her sailing to the next level, Kumanan joined Sailing Academy Gran Canaria in 2019 to be coached by two-time Olympian Tamas Eszes.

Combining her time in Spain with studying engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, it was a move that soon paid off.

Writing herself into Indian folklore, Kumanan won a bronze medal at the Sailing World Cup in 2021, finishing behind the USA’s Erika Reineke and Greece’s Vaseline Karachaliou in Miami, Florida – and setting the wheels in motion for an historic day in the Middle East.

 

Learning from Tokyo

Kumanan secured her spot as India’s first woman sailing Olympian when she competed in Oman.

Borrowing the boat of her India teammate Ram Milan Yadav at the Asian Qualifiers, the youngster had wrapped up her spot in Japan with one race to go and a 21-point advantage over her closest rival.

Placing second overall at the Mussanah Open Championship, she became just the fourth sailor from the Emerging Nations Program to gain qualification for the Games.

 

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Finishing 35th on the water in Tokyo, Kumanan saw her maiden Games as an opportunity to learn before taking that knowledge to Paris three years down the line.

“It will be an experience-building event,” she said. “I can have fun. Sometimes for a sailor, these are the best events.

“No pressure to perform and the decision-making comes much easier. I will do my best and work on things which I can work on.

”I’ve to work on every skill. I don’t do anything perfectly. Sailing is about getting everything together.“

 

Ready for Marseille

Qualification for this year’s Olympics in the ILCA 6 women’s dinghy came down to the Last Chance Regatta in Hyeres, France, in April.

Kumanan missed out on earlier qualification at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where she slipped out of a podium finish.

Just two points away from automatic qualification at the World Championships earlier in 2024 too, a fifth-place finish in a last-gasp roll of the dice paid off for the 26-year-old.

 

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Netting 67 points, she was the top performer among sailors from the Emerging Nations Program who had not yet obtained a quota.

Now with three more years’ experience on the water and with a comprehensive plan in place with coach, Tamas Eszes, the possibilities are endless.

“This is my second Olympic Games,” Kumanan said. “I am way more prepared.

“Sailing is very venue-specific. I have been there, and I am going to spend one more month there so I feel way more prepared.

“From my past experience, I know the magnitude of events like the Olympics, so I know what to expect and all the distractions that come with it and I can put it aside and focus on performing.

“This time I feel a lot more supported. I have the freedom to do whatever I need to do to perform.”