SportsPosted at: Oct 2 2026 1:40PM


From Bharatanatyam and basketball to sailing’s biggest stages, Nethra makes history

Aichi-Nagoya, Oct 2 (UNI) Nethra Kumanan did not exactly follow the conventional route to becoming an Olympian. There was Bharatanatyam, basketball, tennis and skating before sailing entered her life. At 15, she attended a summer camp and, almost casually, found the sport that would change her life.
The Chennai girl has since travelled a rather longer distance than most summer-camp adventures usually take one.
On Friday, Nethra won bronze in the women’s dinghy (ILCA 6) event at the Asian Games here, adding an Asian Games medal to a career already dotted with historic firsts.
Sailing was hardly an obvious choice for a teenager whose interests ranged from the basketball court to the dance floor. But once she took to the water, she stayed with it.
She worked her way through the national and international sailing circuit and eventually moved her training base to Gran Canaria, Spain, where she trained under experienced international coaches while continuing her education.
Then came the breakthrough.
In 2021, Nethra became the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the Olympic Games, securing her Tokyo 2020 berth at the Mussanah Open Championship in Oman.
She went on to compete at Tokyo 2020 and, three years later, qualified for Paris 2024. That made her the first Indian woman sailor to compete at two Olympics.
Now there is an Asian Games bronze to go with those Olympic milestones.
There is something pleasingly unpredictable about Nethra’s journey. A girl who once divided her time between Bharatanatyam, basketball, tennis and skating eventually found herself steering a boat towards the biggest sporting arenas in the world.
Perhaps the lesson is simple: sometimes you do not choose the road. You stumble upon it at 15, take a few turns, and one day discover that it has taken you all the way to an Asian Games podium.
UNI BDN
Tags: #From Bharatanatyam and basketball to sailing’s biggest stages# Nethra makes history
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