Who is Nethra Kumanan

Nethra Kumanan is a two-time Olympian, having represented India at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. However, the Chennai-born sailor's qualification for Tokyo 2020 will always be a special event in Indian sailing history.

Nethra Kumanan is not only the first Indian woman to qualify for the Summer Games but more significantly, she is the first Indian sailor who booked a place at the Olympics directly and that too by topping a qualifying event.

The other Indians who made it to the Olympics before her only managed to get their respective spots because the quotas were not filled up. Some even moved up from the waiting list. All of them, of course, were men.

The Indian sailor earned her spot at the Tokyo Olympics in the Laser Radial category after she led the 10-race series at the Mussanah Open Championship in Oman convincingly in April 2021. In the medal round, she finished sixth, and was placed second overall.

Such was Nethra’s performance that she had all but booked her place on the penultimate day of the Asian qualifiers held at the Millennium Resort in the oldest sultanate situated on the Persian Gulf.

Mussanah, incidentally, is also where Nethra’s international sailing career kicked off in an Under-21 event in 2013.

The sailor from Chennai races in the Laser Radial category, a small, dinghy-style boat that is sailed single-handedly.

Nethra Kumanan has been a trailblazer for India in sailing. She is also the first Indian woman to win a medal in the sport after clinching a bronze in the second round of the Hempel World Cup Series in Miami in January 2020.

But her celebrations were muted as the humble Nethra had beaten roommate and friend Matilda Talluri of Italy, who had finished fifth.

Nethra Kumanan is an experienced sailor. She has represented India at both the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. Her best finish was a fourth in the 2018 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia.

For Nethra, the fourth place in Jakarta was a failure because her aim was to seal a spot at the Olympics. She crumbled under what she said was “self-inflicted” pressure.

Nevertheless, it was still a big achievement, considering where she hails from.

“Most people don’t know sailing exists in India,” Nethra Kumanan had said after her historic World Cup medal. “Our sports are cricket, football or hockey and it’s more the navy or the army that sail.”

Born on August 21, 1997, Nethra Kumanan was introduced to sailing during a summer camp organised by Tamil Nadu Sailing Association in 2009. She was 12 at the time.

It was a time when she was exploring. Nethra was into tennis, basketball and cycling as a youngster. But she learnt the most from Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance), which she had to give up for sailing.

Bharatanatyam had shaped her, instilling values like discipline, hard work and dedication, which helps her today even as sailing became an integral part of her life.

"I love it, it’s like no other sport, and I played everything as a kid,” says Nethra. “Sailing has been different and more mental than any other sport that I’ve tried.”

Nethra, an engineering student from the SRM College in Chennai, has also won multiple national championships. Her first podium finish in an international event came at the India International Regatta held in Chennai in 2014.

Admittedly close to her family, she also inspired her younger brother, Naveen, to take up sailing. He too competed at the national level but eventually opted to pursue his education in Michigan.

Meanwhile, Nethra’s father VC Kumanan, who runs an IT company, has been by her side crunching data and providing analytical support.

“If someone younger were to come up to me, I’d tell them that this sport takes a lot of time, a lot of hours in the water but it’s all worth it,” Nethra has been quoted as saying.

“And you get to travel the world, meet people from different countries and experience them trying to do their best and you try to do better than them,” she points out.

Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Nethra was training at Gran Canaria in Spain for about a year and a half with Hungarian coach Tamas Eszes, a two-time Olympian.

“We started to fall in love with her attitude and personality,” Eszes said. "She is a tough girl… She started our training at 9:30 in the morning. It's easy to work with strong-minded athletes.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Nethra Kumanan finished 35th overall in the women’s laser radial after 10 qualifying races, failing to make the cut for the final. She recorded a best finish of 15th in the third race.

"It's been a tough event, but I'm happy to have brought some attention to the sport in the country. I take from it what I can and try to come back better," Nethra said.

At Paris 2024, Nethra did better. The Indian sailor claimed the 21st place in the same discipline. She had secured the Olympic quota for India via the Emerging Nations Programme at the Last Chance Regatta in France in April 2024.