Kochi teenager sets sail for Optimist World Championship in Morocco

Aldrin will compete against some of the best young sailors in a championship that has drawn around 265 participants from across the globe.

14-year-old Aldrin on a boat. (Photo | Special Arrangement)

KOCHI: Just two years after taking up sailing, Aldrin Antony has earned a place on one of the sport’s biggest stages for youth. The 14-year-old will represent India in the boys category at the 2026 Optimist World Championship in Tangier, Morocco, this week.

Aldrin will compete against some of the best young sailors in a championship that has drawn around 265 participants from across the globe. But his coach Naib Subudar Nithin M K told TNIE that “the lad has the skill and determination to take challenges head on.”

Indeed, the Kochi-based teenager, in the words of the former national sailing coach Hon Lt P Madhu, is “one to watch as sailing enters a golden era in India.”

Aldrin first took up the sport in 2024 after being inspired by his uncle, Naik Manu Francis, a sailor in the Indian Army. In a short span, he rose through the ranks of Indian sailing, catching the attention of coaches and sailing officials alike.

According to Nithin, Aldrin is currently ranked second in the country in the Optimist class, an under-16 sailing category that uses a single-handed dinghy and serves as an entry point for many future Olympians and international sailors.

Aldrin receiving a bronze medal in the National Regatta Championship held last year.

“In recent months, Aldrin has delivered a string of strong performances on the national circuit. He secured a bronze medal at the Youth National Championship in Mumbai and followed it up with another bronze at a regatta conducted at Umiam Lake in Shillong, Meghalaya,” Nithin added.

Earlier, he had finished second in the boys category and third overall at the National Ranking Regatta held at Pawna Dam near Pune. His consistency across ranking events helped him secure selection to the Indian team for the world championship.

Though TNIE reached out to Aldrin, he was already on his way to Morocco. India has fielded a five-member contingent comprising three boys and two girls for the competition.

Aldrin is a product of the Army Boys Sports Company in Bengaluru, a joint initiative with the Sports Authority of India that identifies and nurtures young talent for future international competitions.