| Nethra Kumanan | |
| Birth Date: | 21 August 1997[1] |
| Birth Place: | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Height: | 1.62 m |
| Classes: | ILCA 6 |
| Club: | Tamil Nadu Sailing Association |
| Coach: | Mr Tamas Eszes |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Nethra Kumanan (born 21 August 1997) is an Olympian in the Sport of ILCA6 Women (popularly known as Laser Radial Sailing) from India. She qualified for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at the Last Chance Regatta, an Olympic qualifier, in Hyeres, France on 26 April 2024 claiming the quota under the Emerging Nations Programme. She is the second to qualify from India after Vishnu Saravanan.[2]
Nethra Kumanan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Her father V. C. Kumanan, an entrepreneur, runs an IT company and her mother Sreeja Kumanan is a HR Professional.
Nethra did her schooling from Patasala Montessori School up to Standard 6 and thereafter studied at The School, KFI (Krishnamurti Foundation of India) till Standard 10. Thereafter she took to National Institute of Schooling (NIOS) and finished her 12th and this also helped her to stay focused on her sailing training.
Nethra has recently completed her B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from SRM University, Vadapalani campus.[3] [4] [5] [6] She is now pursuing her MBA. Earlier, she joined Anna University in the Mechanical Engineering under the sports quota in 2017 but had to drop out after a year to prepare for the Asian Games.
In her formative years, she learnt a lot of arts and sports and won many trophies. These include Bharatanatyam which she learnt for about six years under her guru Alarmel Valli, a leading Indian Classical dancer and choreographer, a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee. She was an avid arts person and has won trophies at Global Art International Competitions held in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia in various years. She also learnt Kalaripayattu, mountain biking, tennis, skating, basketball, swimming and was also good in her academics.
She started sailing at a summer class in 2010 at Tamil Nadu Sailing Association's 'Summer Sailing Camp'.
Nethra is the first Indian woman to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in sailing directly and by being the first Asian at the Olympic qualifier event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At her maiden Olympics, she finished 35th overall and with a best finish of 15th in the third race of the Laser Radial category for women out of 44 participants.https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/who-nethra-kumanan-indian-sailing-laser-radial
Earlier in January 2020, Nethra Kumanan became the first Indian woman to win a bronze medal at the Hempel Sailing World Cup Series, in Miami, U.S.A. She has also won over 20 medals at national and international sailing championships and trained at India, Israel, Hungary, Denmark and Spain.[7]
Nethra has represented India at the Asian Games in 2014 in South Korea and in 2018 in Jakarta where she finished seventh and fifth respectively.
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | ILCA6 | 2023 | Hague, Netherlands | |
| 51 | ILCA6 | 2022 | Texas, USA | |
| 23 | Laser Radial | 2021 | Mussanah, Oman | |
| 66 | Laser Radial | 2019 | Sakaiminato, Japan | |
| 78 | Laser Radial | 2018 | Aarhus, DEN |
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Laser Radial | 2018 | Indonesia | |
| 7 | Laser Radial | 2014 | S Korea |
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | ILCA6 | 2022 | Pattaya, Thailand | |
| Silver | ILCA6 | 2022 | Abu Dhabi, UAE | |
| Gold | ILCA6 | 2021 | Mussanah, Oman | |
| 4 | Laser Radial | 2019 | Singapore, SIN |
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Laser Radial | 2020 | Gdansk, POL | |
| 24 | ILCA6 | 2023 | Andorra, Italy | |
| Bronze | Europa Cup | 2022 | Balatonfured, Hungary |
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Laser Radial | 2020 | Miami, FL, USA | |
| 41 | Laser Radial | 2021 | Medemblik, NED | |
| 49 | Laser Radial | 2019 | Genoa, ITA | |
| 32 | ILCA6 | 2023 | Palma Mallorca, Spain |
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Laser Radial | 2017 | Nieuwpoort, BEL | |
| Gold | Laser Radial | 2015 | ASAF Youth |