Vishnu Saravanan Breaks Record As First Indian Laser Sailor To Finish In The Top Three At A World Championship

This week saw Vishnu Saravanan from Colaba, Mumbai become the first Indian Laser sailor to ever finish in the top three at a World Championship.  In August he finished 3rd at the Under 21 Europeans rounding off an incredible season for the 20-year-old junior Indian army officer.

Saravanan presently trains  with the SailCoach Foundation at the Royal Malta Yacht Club Sailing School. He has a bright future although the journey ahead of him will get tougher as he moves from the Under 21 level to Olympic competition. Nevertheless, Saravanan has made a name for himself in what is seen by many as the toughest Olympic sailing discipline.

Having gone through the usual progression of youth sailing classes such as Optimist, 420, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, and now Laser Standard. The young Saravanan struggled to stay in any of these classes for too long, as he continued to outgrow them until he found the perfect boat for his body size in the Laser Standard.

The latest chapter in Saravanan’s life commenced in December 2018 when he decided to become a full-time sailor in order to get to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Saravanan joined the team at SailCoach, coming into contact with his coach Alexandr Denisiuc and Trevor Millar his mentor. Denisiuc is a two- time Laser class campaigner for both London and Rio Games. Millar, a veteran coach of seven Olympic Games with four Olympic medals to his credit, took on the job of mentor to the young Saravanan.

Working as a team, they engineered the success of the 2019 season, finishing with two outstanding bronze medals at the Under 21 youth level. Saravanan’s next goal is to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games through the Asian qualifier in Abu Dhabi this coming March. However, with only two country spots available for Asia, this is going to be the toughest test for the young Saravanan.

Saravanan continues to train in Malta and plans to take part in two training camps with two times World Champion and London Silver medalist Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus. Kontides was also in Malta for training with the SailCoach team training out of the Royal Malta Yacht Club base as Malta continues to make a name for itself as an international sailing hub.

Overall Results
1st Juan Pablo Cardozo (ARG)
2nd Clemente Seguel Lacamara (CHI)
3rd Vishnu Saravanan (IND)

Result link
http://2019-u21.laser-worlds.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2019/11/RESULTS_STD.pdf