HYDERABAD: If most sportspersons succumb to pressure, Swatantra Singh thrived in it. He headed just where the force was in Hussain Sagar, turned it to his advantage and surged to victory twice in the Hyderabad Sailing Week multi-class regatta’s three Finn races.
If the 6’ 3” high yachtsman was monarch of almost all he surveyed on Wednesday, he surprisingly suffered from a fear of water when he set out from Bhagera village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhuni district. He then learnt swimming, mandatory before venturing into water sports.
The Army Yachting Node (AYN) sailor, more attuned to riding the Arabian Sea’s waves off Mumbai, took a day to get back the feel of the historic lake. After all it was here that he found his feet in the sport, taking his first steps in a Laser Standard.
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To India’s most decorated sailor Rajesh Choudhary, Swatantra, who weighed 93kg, seemed tailor-made for the ‘big bird’. The two-time Asian Games gold medallist and Arjuna awardee wasn’t wrong, for in just two years, his ward made huge strides in the Finn.
“Since AYN sailors train through the year, the only option for them is to win,” Gajender Singh Chouhan, one of Swatantra’s coaches had said shortly before the opening race. His student didn’t disappoint from the outset itself.
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Finn: Race IV: 1. Swatantra Singh; 2. Naveen Kumar; 3. Sukhvir Singh (all AYN) V: 1. Vivek; 2. Naveen; 3. Prabhit (all AYN); VI: 1. Swatantra; 2. Naveen; 3. Vivek.
Laser Standard: IV: 1. Manu Francis; 2. Harpreet Singh (both AYN); 3. Himanshu Yadav (INWTC, Mumbai).
Laser Radial: IV: 1. Deelip Kumar (EMESA); 2. Abhimanyu Panwar (RMYC); 3. Chintan Chhatbar (INWTC, Goa). V: 1. Chintan; 2. Abhimanyu; 3. Harpreet Singh (AYN). VI: 1. Deelip; 2. Harpreet; 3. Ramakant Tiwari (INWTC, Mumbai).
Laser 4.7: IV: 1. Ram Milan Yadav (NSS); 2. K. Goutham (YCH); 3. Chitresh T. (TNSA).
470 (Helm named first, crew second): IV: 1. Ayaz Shaikh/ Shubham Patel (AYN); 2. Praveen Kumar/ Ravindra Kumar Sharma (INWTC, M); 3. Atul Lande/ Mahesh Yadav (AYN); V: 1. Ayaz/ Shubham; 2. Virender Singh/ Sudhanshu Shekhar (INWTC, M); 3. Praveen Ravindra; VI: 1. Ayaz/ Shubham; 2. Praveen/ Ravindra; 3. Virender/ Sudhanshu.
RS:X: IV: 1. Jerome Kumar; 2. M.N. Kore; 3. Ebad Ali (all AYN).
Enterprise (Helm named first, crew second): IV: 1. Ashish Kumar Patel/ Nagen Behera (EMESA); 2. Rajwant Singh/ Mukhtair Singh (CESC) 3; 3. Satish Kumar/ Rahul M. Nair (AYN); V: 1. Ashish/ Nagen; 2. Satish/ Rahul; 3. E. Hemanth Kumar/ Amit Arvind Shinde (CESC); VI: 1. Ashish/ Nagen; 2. Satish/ Rahul; 3. Rajwant/ Mukhtair.
Hobie 16: IV: 1. Kamlesh Kumar Patel/ U.B. Rawankar; 2. Kaushal Kumar Yadav/ Girish M. (AWSA); 3. Jaspreet Singh/ Vishnu Prasad (AWSA); V: 1. Kamlesh/ Rawankar; 2. Pawan Kumar/ Nitin M.K. (AYN); 3. Dilip Sarmah/ Tejaswi Sai Venkatesh (APSA).