CHENNAI: Even before the first ray of sunlight spills orange light over the waves, Sathish Kumar (52), a fisherman, is busy lifting up young kids from the nearby fishing hamlets and plopping them on paddleboards. Slowly, they head to the waters, gracefully sliding across the waves.
Early morning strollers along the shores of Tiruvottiyur beach or Marina beach can spot Sathish patiently guiding his loyal band of students step by step. Standup paddling (SUP), still relatively new to India, is a water sport where a person balances on a large, stable board and uses a paddle to move across the water.
Unlike surfing, which involves catching and riding waves, SUP is typically done on calm waters like lakes, rivers or gentle beaches. The focus is on balance and paddling, making it easier for beginners to pick up, especially children and those with no background in swimming or water sports.
Sathish, the first person in the world to travel from India to Sri Lanka and back on a standup paddleboard in just 10 hours, set up the SUP Marina Club in 2016 to train students from the fishing community in the sport.
Born and raised in Triplicane, Chennai, Sathish grew up fascinated by the ocean. His father worked at a bank and his mother is a homemaker. During his college days in Puducherry, he joined the Naval NCC, deepening his love for the sea.
He excelled in boat pulling competitions and participated in several trainings conducted by the Army and Navy, including a month-long training as cadet captain aboard the INS Gomati, an Indian Navy warship in Mumbai, and parasailing training conducted by the Indian army in Puducherry. When it came time to choose a profession, Sathish turned to the sea again, choosing fishing as his livelihood.
Being a fisher, he was involved in the rescue of people and was part of the official lifeguards and marine volunteers. Sathish’s introduction to standup paddling came in 2014 during a visit to San Diego, USA for a surfing tournament.
There, he saw athletes gliding across the water on paddleboards. Captivated by this, he began learning and practising SUP. Later, he would buy second-hand paddleboards from international tournaments and take them to India to train himself and others.
Slowly, he started representing India at international tournaments. He participated in the SUP Dragon World Championship in Austria in 2018 and France in 2019. At the national level, he secured first place in the SUP technical race in the senior division in 2018 and clinched the top spot in the SUP Nationals rally in 2019.
In September 2021, Sathish became the first Indian to represent the country at the ICF SUP World Championships in Hungary conducted by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), the global governing body for canoe and paddle sports.
He also represented India for the first time in the Paris SUP Open, one of the world’s largest stand up paddling races, finishing 142nd out of over 1,000 participants. He also competed in the ISA SUP World Championship 2022 in Puerto Rico the following year, apart from being part of the APP World Tour most recently.
While Sathish has several records to his name, it’s the achievements of the young athletes he trains that bring him the greatest pride. Today, the club has over 40 children, including 15 girls, many of whom are now creating a place for themselves in the sport.
At a recent national SUP tournament, athletes from the state won around 52 medals, of which, 25 belonged to the children of SUP Marina club.
The state government gave cash prizes worth Rs 1.6 crore to these athletes. “Many of them used the prize money to buy boards and paddles, enabling them to train better, aim higher and achieve more,” says Sathish. His son, Aneesh Kumar, currently holds the world’s number one rank in the under-15 category while another student from the club, Nithish, holds the third spot.
Since 2016, Sathish and his team have taken their boards beyond competition, using standup paddling to raise awareness on plastic pollution. Almost every year, they embark on paddle journeys across rivers and coastlines, to promote environmental conservation.
They have paddled through Buckingham Canal, Ganges, Godavari and Kollidam rivers. They have also paddled from Puducherry to Kovalam, Marina to Injambakkam, and Marina to Kasimedu to highlight the need for marine conservation.
In May 2024, his 12-year-old son, Aneesh Kumar, travelled across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry, on a standup paddleboard to raise awareness on plastic pollution. He covered 350 km in the journey which earned him a World Book of Records certificate in August that year.
Sathish believes that standup paddling has potential in a country like India, which is blessed with diverse rivers, lakes and coastlines. He says, “One major challenge young athletes face is the high cost of equipment. A good paddleboard can cost over Rs 3 lakh and paddles around Rs 75,000, both of which has to be imported.The Tamil Nadu government has introduced schemes to sponsor equipment for young athletes and it will go a long way in helping the sport grow.”
(Edited by Mary Catherene)