Chitresh Thatha
#stupidstories
Voyager – a person who goes on a long trip especially on a ship. This is the definition given for a voyager. It looks like a tough thing to be a voyager. When kids around 8 years old might try to learn to cycle on the road, this kid ruled the sea. He was the youngest sailor from India who represented Asian games. Now, this might sound normal but sailing on the sea demands a lot of physical, mental strength, and the coordination between the both is also essential. Chitresh Thatha from Chennai is the kid who is undergoing rigorous training to get an International award for our country.
Chitresh Thatha was born in 2001 and begun sailing in 2009. His sister is the first motivation during his training with her. Chitresh realised that sailing comes naturally to him and to set the path through sailing. This took him from the school he studied in several countries including UK, Malaysia, Turkey, Ireland, France, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Malta. He truly loves being on the water and aiming high for medals.
Chitresh took part in Asian games in 2014 where he was the youngest contender from India. His passion for sailing kept him moving despite many challenges. Sailing required a lot of mental strength, necessary to deal with unexpected behaviours of the sea. Chitresh saw his sister competing in Laser Radial category and wanted to try it. The journey began at that moment and never turned back till now. He won the gold medal in India International Ragatta for under 12 categories in 2013.
Chitresh Thatha is a national champion in the Optimistic category where they use a small single-handed sailing dinghy used by children up to the age of 15. The budding champion observed the current of sailing sport in our country and wants to do his part for a bright future. He mentioned that India has never won a medal in sailing sport, not even in Asia level. He wanted to change that state and eagerly looking for a podium finish. He trains for 6 hours every day. Since he spends considerable time in training, sometime he skipped school for weeks. But his parents and teachers are very supportive which helps him to concentrate on sports.
Chitresh competed in Hong Kong Race week, a consistent event of Asian Sailing Federation Youth Cup. Forty sailors took part and Chitresh clinched silver medal in the Laser 4.7 class category. This is one of his long awaited achievement. This race consist 10 rounds where he finished first in three races (4, 7, 10) and second in race 3.
Although few awards bagged, it is worth to note that sailing is entirely different from other sports. He is a National Level sailor from India for the past 5 to 6 years in water sports. Chitresh is training extensively under the Yatching Association of India’s Chief National coach Pete Conway and assistant Umesh Naiksatam. He is aspiring to bring international acclaimed medals for India in sailing sport.
The number of medals can never measure a person’s capacity. It depends on the attitude when one is back against the war. Chitresh looks firm and looking forward to bring the great name for our nation. Let’s congratulate him for all his awesome efforts to make our nation proud.
