There's a sign on Vishnu Saravanan's wall, beside an Indian flag and a collection of medals and trophies. "Olympic medal yes we will", it says. On his second outing at the Games, it could be the *Optimist in him speaking but it should at the least give him inspiration.
Vishnu (25) has been on or around the sea for as long as he can remember. His Armyman father Ramachandran Saravanan - who set up the backdrop - was an avid sailor but could not pursue the sport as a career and instead got his two children into the sport.
Vishnu was nine when he had his first sailing experience on an *Optimist sailing dinghy -- beginner-friendly single-handed -- and has been hooked to the sport since.
Fifteen years after that "debut", Vishnu -- who was enrolled in the Indian Army as a Naib Subedar in 2017 -- is only the second Indian sailor to represent India in multiple Olympic Games since Farokh Tarapore [1984, 1988 and 1992]. In fact, he was the first Indian sailor to secure a quota place for the Paris Olympics.
He finished 20th among 35 sailors at the Tokyo Olympics, where he admits he "didn't care about the results." His approach was that it was his first Games, he just wanted to sail his best and see where it got him. He was second among the Asians, which was a huge positive.
He is now a seasoned campaigner but his approach to the sport is the same. To fight. It's why, deep down, he did not want to qualify for the Olympics in an Asian event but wanted to do it at the World Championships because the level of competition is higher there. And that is exactly what he did: win an Olympic quota at the ILCA-7 World Championship in January.
Vishnu, whose training base is in Malta, realized that to be the best you had to be among the best. That's why he found himself in Marseille - also the Olympic venue - a month before the Olympics to train alongside London Olympics silver medallist Pavlos Kontides [who he considers his hero] and two-time Olympic silver medallist Tonci Stipanovic.
"I've been lucky to train in the Olympic waters and have such good training partners who have won Olympic medals. I'm training with Pavlos Kontides and Tonci Stipanovic, who have been in the top five for many years. As I say, I am in the Army, but I've never been in a war. But when I'm sailing with these guys, it feels like I'm at war every day because the intensity is super high and my heart rate never goes below 150," he said during a virtual session set up by the Sports Authority of India.
Training in Marseille - which he liked to Mumbai's Marine Drive "but with cliffs on the edges" - has helped Vishnu understand the conditions better. "It's very challenging when the wind comes in different directions," he says while adding that the winds are random and unpredictable. But to make things slightly easier, Vishnu extensively reads about the cloud patterns, wind movement, water and weather conditions on the eve of each sailing session.
He likens sailing to playing "chess on water" which tells you the story: you need a perfect synergy between your mind and body to be able to think, quite literally, on your feet while your dinghy moves at a speed of 30 knots [55kmph].
Despite the challenging conditions, Vishnu will back himself to get into the medal rounds in Paris. The pressure is surely there, he is a two-time Olympian, but he quotes Billie Jean King to soothe the nerves: pressure is a privilege.