Taking your mark in windsurfing is challenging. Learning on new equipment (IQFoil) by trial and error, and winning a medal even more so. Goan girl Katya Ida Coelho, India’s only woman IQFoiler and the first Indian to win an IQFoil medal at the International Windsurfing Cup in 2022 is all about the growth mindset.
On a lone stretch of beach in Goa, Katya perseveres. Training, paddling into the sea, and up, up and away she glides — like the wind. Being one with the ocean and the winds, focused on manoeuvring the sail board, competing is her daily bread.
IQFoil is a class of windsurfing selected by World Sailing to replace the RS:X for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. For her, this switch to IQFoil in 2021, saw her compete in 2022 for the first international IQFoil Championship, winning a silver for India. It speaks lengths about her talent. “I honestly went with no expectation as it was new equipment, and other Asian countries were also getting accustomed to it. Whatever I learnt was mostly through youtube and with guidance from my brother Dayne (a national surfer). I managed a silver,” smiles the 24-year-old.
Having gotten the hang of a foil jive, she stresses that starts are most crucial as internationally, a fleet of over 80 takes the mark. “This is difficult to do in India as we don’t have so many sailors on the start line. This is where we suffer. My father says I need to get my speed, and angle right,” she shares, wind meter in hand, and tide maps in memory, to chart her course.
With no IQFoil coach currently in India, it makes it tougher. Windsurfing is an expensive sport, as equipment can cost Rs 8-Rs 10 lakh. Thankfully, for her, windsurfing runs in the family, her father Donald, was a national level athlete and her “coach.” So is her brother Dayne. Infact, her father runs Goa Beach Sports Academy, where many hopefuls train.
How windsurfing began
Seeing Katya glide perched on the board, a few inches above the water is magical. For novices, she elaborates, “You slowly learn to use the core to keep the sail and board in sync with the wind,” says the sailor who loves Goa’s perfect wind and water conditions.
“My father picked up windsurfing from European tourists thronging Calangute Beach 25-30 years ago. They’d sail, and when one left their equipment behind, he self-taught himself, went onto to represent India internationally, won a few medals nationally,” she recalls. Learning to swim at three, the ocean is Katya’s playground. Watching her brother compete, the little Katya was curious, and embarked on a lesser known sport, completely captivated. “My father started training us at Hawaii beach in Dona Paula. My brother and I were the only Indians to quality as a team in the Asian Games 2018. It was a huge learning, but due to equipment damage, we missed out on a good performance – there were races we finished 4th and 3rd,” she says.
Starting at 11, she was a natural, and she took up windsurfing professionally in 2013, at 13. For the uninitiated, windsurfing involves balancing on a board, and manoeuvring the sail, using the wind to propel forward. The x factor – the wind, makes it challenging. “You progress first to planning – going faster, learning how to use the wind to your benefit is the second stage. The third stage is getting into the harness, and using the IQFoil. Competing has different challenges, getting starts right as the best sailors and Olympians are still mastering that, or jiving and tacking,” gushes Katya who has two medals at the Asian Open Championship in Techno 2015, 10 national gold medals.
Qualifying in the Youth Olympics in China, as the only Indian, she was “the youngest sailor there, only 14. That was RS:X windsurfing, which is not an Olympic sport anymore, IQFoil has replaced it,” she explains. The IQFoil equipment has a carbon foil underneath the board so one is not touching the surface of the water. “When you are sailing, you are technically flying above the surface, with just the carbon foil underneath the board, it’s a new innovation and makes it better for the sport,” says Katya.
Practice
“Surfing is like playing chess on water, using the mind to race, vigilant about wind pressure, using the waves to maximise speed,” says the girl who harnesses the wind.
It’s been a journey of falling, getting up, and persevering for a girl who was once terrified of dolphins! Overcoming fear, her chutzpah and calmness surprise. “Being in the ocean alone energises me. I feel connected to nature. I am all alone out there – the feeling is indescribable, wondrous,” she says.
Most windsurfers start with a 5 m sail, Katya has graduated to an 8.5m sail. As an Indian, it is challenging, as equipment and support takes its time coming, thus she is extremely grateful for the financial backing from her parents, “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to have accomplished even half of what I have. There is a six to eight month wait for government funds. Waiting for support is a huge struggle. I don’t have a coach, my dad coaches me. Yes, I wish for a sport psychologist, physiotherapist and coach, but we have not been blessed with the luxury of that. All we have is our family – my mother helps me get me through my dark phases. I cope by watching athletes, reading biographies and learning from their struggles,” she adds.
Expect the unexpected
She braces for the unexpected – choppy waters, high winds and nature’s unpredictability are her key metrics. “Mentally, you need to be strong, prepared for anything. Figure your way and mark your place,” she adds. Having reached 45-km per hour, she was delighted that she recently clocked 50. Though one wrong move can cause a bad fall, “You are moving at high speeds, above the water, you need to be completely in the zone,” she avers.
Disappointed, not defeated, training for the National Games in Goa and the world championships – it’s two hours physical training for endurance every morning, and sailing in the evening. Her qualifying event at the Olympics, in Netherlands this year, is most cherished even though she couldn’t go further. Rubbing shoulders with champions, “I met the world’s best there, Shahar Tibi, the current world champ from Israel,” she quips. There she realised her technique was off, and how the right equipment is important – “It’s 50 percent athlete effort, and 50 percent equipment. Most sailors have three sets for training – one to compete, one to train, and one in case of emergency. I have just one set,” she mulls.
Lake Garda in Italy is her favorite spot to surf, “It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever sailed in,” says the nature seeker who has seen jellyfish, dolphins and even a seal. She’d much rather gym for calm, paint or be with family and cousins. Her family runs O Pescador, where she helps when not surfing, or dabbles in graphic design, taking after her designer mother Ambika Soni.
Not deterred, her focus now is, “to be the best athlete in my sport.” Later, she wants to explore sports psychology, and “start an academy to teach windsurfing, alongside my father. I want to give back to the sport.”
The Coelho surfers
It’s a unique sight to see the three Coelhos deep in practice – father, brother and Katya. Unsurprising, her most cherished memory is racing with her father and brother together in the 2012 nationals. “It’s etched in my memory. Being able to compete, even as my brother and father did, just watching them race, and then going in for my race – it was unique. Not many get to have such an experience,” smiles the girl who giggles at the competitive spirit, admitting that training with her brother has helped improve her skill level as he is bigger and faster, but is honest that his, “growth is hampered as he needs to compete against someone faster – that is why we are trying to build a fleet in India so the next generation of sailors have people to pace and sail with.”
source/content: firstpost.com (headline edited)