ASHOK THAKKAR Varun

General
PARTNERSHIP
He began sailing with crewmate Kelapanda Ganapathy in 2011. The pair started out in the Optimist and 29er classes before moving on to a 49er boat. "We used to race against each other in our junior days. We were rivals, but we became a team in 2011. I knew he was a better helm than me, so I decided to start rowing and Gana started to helm. That's how we became a team. The time and commitment that we have given has helped us get where we are. When you are working in a team you have differences on a few things, but there is always a bigger picture in mind which is to complete the race. We try to keep things simple and work it out." (olympics, 26 Jul 2021; firstpost, 06 May 2021; indulgexpress, 08 Apr 2021; timesofindia, 31 Aug 2018)

EARLY DAYS
He left regular full-time school early and began home schooling in order to dedicate more time to his sailing career. "Sailing brought discipline in my life. I wasn't great in academics but sailing gave me an opportunity to excel in something apart from academics. So, my family did support me a lot. They never questioned whenever I got the results. They saw I was working hard and wasn't getting distracted." (olympics, 26 Jul 2021, 23 Apr 2021, 02 May 2021; sportskeeda, 14 Jul 2021; firstpost, 06 May 2021)