HYDERABAD: Hailing from Raghunandanpur village in Bihar’s Begusarai district, Rajesh Choudhary has won 34 national gold medals and 14 international medals, including two bronze medals in Asian Games.
“I did not know anything about sailing before joining the army. I joined EME in 1992. I won the Vishisht Sewa medal and the Arjuna award during service. The journey was challenging but I worked very hard,” said Rajesh Choudhary.
“When I joined the army, I had trained for rock climbing, kayaking and rowing. When I joined EME, I got to know that only officers were allowed to sail. I listened to their conversations carefully, read a lot of books and finally, with the support and guidance of some very nice people, I was able to take up sailing as a sport. It didn’t take me long, in one-and-a-half years, I was on the top. International events gave me better exposure to the sport,” he said.
He said that the biggest strength Indian sailing has is that the events are organised by the government and the defence services. “Defence services have a certain kind of discipline, that allows a sailor to hone their skills.
They also motivate youngsters to take up the sport. Indian sailing scenario is changing immensely, we are also getting more funding. Each club prepares sailors differently. Junior category members are also getting training, which I did not have when I started. I had to use old equipment due to a lack of funds and there was no coaching facility available readily. Yet, I worked hard. There were no YouTube videos back then. Technical aspects of the game have media support now which is a good thing,” Choudhary said.
Shedding light on the prerequisites of sport in terms of mental and physical capacity, he said that the younger sailors look for shortcuts. “For us, being in the water for 6-8 hours was the norm. 25 hours in a week. At times, they do not get the support that they need as funding depends on the medals they win. Hence, getting the right support for training to enhance performance is significant. It is important not only for the sailor but also for the upcoming generations who look up to them.
My advice to the younger sailors is, do not be afraid while you are in the water. Keeping a calm attitude and being fearless is the only way to go. Once fear takes over, all your strategies and planning go out of the window. Even if you know swimming and are perfectly good on the ground, if fear takes over, you won’t be able to succeed,” he concluded.