PANAJI
Goa’s youngest sailing sensation Pearl Colvalcar won gold at the Prestigious Inland Enterprise Championships (IEC) held at National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune.
Pearl teamed up with Vikas Kapila from Mumbai and in a fleet of 75 boats (teams) managed to overcome a bad start in the first race where they finished 39th to win the championship, a clear 3 points ahead of their closest rivals Ayaz Shaikh and Upkar Singh.
Pearl first made her debut at the IEC in 2017 and was awarded the Youngest Girl Helm and then in 2018 she won the Youngest Helm Trophy at NDA Khadakwasla. Pearl has been training ceaselessly for the last five years, spending more time on water than on land and despite having to answer her 10th Std board exams in April-May 2022, participated in at least six National Ranking Championships and the Asian Sailing Championship in Abu Dhabi last year and won medals in four of them.
Pearl is the recipient of the Pradhan Mantri Bal Shakti Puraskar and has also been felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her achievements in sailing and windsurfing. She is currently preparing to undertake a three-month training programme in Malta and participate at the ILCA 4 World Championships in Europe, thanks to the Goa Government's scheme for 'Achieving Excellence in Sports at International Level', where she was one of the youngest recipients of the grant.
