“We are each other’s backbone” – Sailors Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy speak on their Olympic medal hopes

“We are each other’s backbone” – Sailors Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy speak on their Olympic medal hopes

Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy

India have been doing extremely well in sailing and the proof is in the pudding as four sailors are on their way to the Tokyo Olympics. The qualification which was secured last month in Oman was a breakthrough moment as the upcoming Games will be the highest representations the country will have in sailing.

Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan made it in the solo category while the duo of Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy secured their qualification in the Men’s Skiff 49er Class Competition. The two have been sailing together for a period of 11 years now and the same was a result of their hard work and teamwork. All focus will now be on getting a medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics.

Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy on competing at the Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo Olympics

Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy spoke at a virtual press conference about their partnership and the upcoming Tokyo Olympics saying, “We love training and going out each day to the sea and training in time. We complement each other and are good partners. On the 49er skiff, the crew holds the main sail and one on the steering. That’s where we help each other, one from the steering end and the other from the help end.”

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“We have a process and we believe in the process. We are sailing for 10 years now. We help each other and work on our flaws, keep the calmness, composure and so on. During the first three years after our team formed, we had our arguments but then we made a long term goal to bring a medal for the country. We believed in each other more than anything else. Currently, we are only each other’s backbone,” Varun said.

The duo has been receiving training under Australian coach Ian Stuart Warren and they stated that they would love for him to be there at the Games as well. “We have been working with a coach (Warren). We are his fifth team that he has helped to qualify for Olympics. The experience he brings in helps in keeping our mind calm. We work with him privately, we take money from our parents and hire him during big events, so we want to have him at the Games as well,” said Varun.

Come the Tokyo Olympics, the duo and the rest would be hopeful of putting up a performance for the ages in sailing.

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