CHENNAI : Remember Harshita Tomar, one of the youngest Indian medallists at the Asian Games last year? The 17-year-old, who took a year out from studies to prepare for Jakarta, has quietly been preparing at the Madhya Pradesh Water Sports Academy with a higher aim: qualifying for the Olympics. To put that into perspective, only one Indian athlete has participated in sailing at the Olympics this century (Nachhatar Singh Johal in 2008).
An immediate order of business for Tomar, who won bronze in the laser 4.7 class in Indonesia, is to put on sufficient weight to be ready for the laser radial class at the qualifying event in Abu Dhabi in March.
She is about 51kgs but the optimum weight for a competitor in that category is 65kg. “She is doing her physical training in the gym right now,” coach Alexander Denisiuc told this newspaper. Denisiuc said she will join him for a two-month training stint in Valletta in January.
“I think she will travel to Malta for a camp in January where she will continue to work on her physical aspects. The first month is all about speed work before we go to Abu Dhabi where we will work on getting used to the venue before devising tactics. Abu Dhabi doesn’t usually have lots of wind so she can probably use that aspect to her advantage.”
The Moldovan reckons India have a good chance of qualifying from that event. “A lot of the top teams have already qualified so that’s a plus. If India finish in the top two (not counting already qualified teams like Malaysia and Japan), they will get a berth. Apart from Tomar, there is also Nethra (Kumanan) and others, so there is a good chance (of an Indian qualifying).”
The Bhopal-based athlete, who is coming back after a back injury, knows what she has to do between now and the training stint in Malta. “I need to put on at least 10kg,” she told this daily. “I’m spending more time in the gym in the mornings before a three-hour training session in the water in the evenings.” She has been asked to focus on her legs and back in the gym, apart from consuming loads of carbohydrates to meet the optimum weight in a short time.
“I am doing a lot of weight training, with lots of focus on the legs,” she said. “I am also taking whey protein to improve my muscle mass.” Even though there isn’t a big difference between the laser 4.7 class and the laser radial, transitioning will still be tricky. But considering she overcame bigger obstacles last year, she should be able to manage this one with relative ease.