Students of European School of Goa, Dayne, 16, and Katya
Coelho, 15, are excellent in academics, but get them to the water and you can watch
them fly! After all, they are professional windsurfing champions who are making
Goa proud. The brother-sister duo recently returned from Singapore after
competing in the 34th SIM Open Asian Windsurfing Championship, winning bronze
medals in the Techno – Youth Olympic Class for boys and girls respectively.
“I am so proud of my kids; it’s one of the happiest days
of my life as it was my dream as much as theirs to win a medal for the country.
It was a proud moment for us, as Indians, to see the Indian flag flying high on
the shores of Singapore and making it all the more special was the fact that we
celebrated this victory together on the eve of our 66th Republic Day,” says
Donald.
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Donald Coelho, father of Dayne, Katya and Kaya, 8, was
spellbound by the sport when he was introduced to it at the age of 20. Donald
has been the National Champion in Windsurfing for three consecutive years
(2010, 2011, 2012). He wanted his children to show the same enthusiasm towards
the sport and they didn’t disappoint him. “It was in 2006-07 when I had gone to
Italy for a competition that I saw small kids taking to the sea with great
equipment. I bought the equipment for Dayne and since he used to watch me
participate in the Nationals, he took to the water quite naturally,” says
Donald.
Dayne and Katya have a set schedule for their studies and
their training. “We practise every day regardless of the wind conditions as we
can’t predict any weather conditions for the competitions. From 2.30pm to 5pm,
we train in the sea. I go by the coach boat to brief them while they practise
their techniques under my guidance. Katya has very good techniques while Dayne
loves strong winds,” explains Donald. Besides training in the water, the
youngsters also spend 90 minutes in the gym, training core muscles.
Speaking about their competition in Singapore, Donald
adds, “Usually, before any competition, I go a few days in advance to
understand the wind and current flow. Since this was the third time Dayne was
participating in the competition, we went just a day in advance. The events of
the day were rewarding but also quite draining. Once we returned home, we were
in a celebratory mode with the entire family.”
Katya Coelho was the youngest, first and only sailor from
India to have qualified for the Windsurfing Youth Olympic Games at the age of
14 while Dayne is a five time National Champion and has participated in ten
international competitions. The duo is now focused on training for an Olympic
win.
Donald’s dedication towards the sport is not limited to
his family. In 2009, Donald formed the Goa Beach Sport Academy which conducts
annual camps for people interested. Although Donald hopes the popularity of the
sport picks up in Goa, he acknowledges that the cost of equipment, which is a
minimum of Rs 1 lakh, as well as the fact that parents are unsure about the
seriousness of the sport in their child’s life, are drawbacks that need to be
tackled. But he’s facing these challenges with full optimism.
