Sailor Nethra credits psychologist for progress

CHENNAI: India sailor Nethra Kumanan said that her psychologist, Nimrod Brokman, has played a pivotal role in her progress over the last few years.

The Chennai-born Nethra, who competes in the Laser Radial class and trains under Tamas Eszes at the European Sailing Academy based at Gran Canaria in Spain, had become the first Indian woman sailor to seal a direct entry into the Olympic Games, at Tokyo 2020. She is being supported by the Dream Sports Foundation (DSF) for the last five years and is part of DSF’s long-term athlete development programme ‘Dream Gold’.

“They (DSF) have been helping me primarily with my psychologist. They introduced me to my psychologist, whose help I sought the most. It has been very helpful. I had a session with him an hour ago. It has played a huge role in my progress as a sailor. Psychologist, nutritionist and physio… people who are hard to find for athletes abroad. When I do not have sufficient funds to travel abroad, they help me there too,” Nethra told DT Next in a recent virtual interaction.

After tasting the thrill of the Olympics for the first time at Tokyo 2020, where she could not make the cut for the final, Nethra has now set her sights on Paris 2024.

“Now, we know what to expect… the extra pressure… the extra things that come with an event of that scale. We have been training the way which has been working for us. We also have the goal of the Asian Games. There are lots of learnings. This is a process; we will take it step by step and keep moving forward,” said Nethra.