Why Kutraleeshwaran gave up swimming, and how he’s giving back now
A once star-swimmer of the Nineties, Kutraleeshwaran gave up his passion in pursuit of a certain lifestyle. Through his latest venture, he is now giving it all back to the sport
Perched atop a docked boat, Kutraleeshwaran Ramesh looks pensively at the sea. It has been a few years since he visited Chennai’s Marina Beach, an all-too familiar place that gave him a shot at fame when he was just nine.
Back then in the Nineties, as a child who loved being in the water, Kutral took part in a five-kilometre swimming competition at sea. “I came fourth,” he recalls, “After finishing it, I started building sand castles. People were curious; I had accomplished something phenomenal at such a young age and yet was nonchalantly playing.”
Kutral remembers this incident distinctly for it was a turning point in his life. Until then, he mostly swam in pools and felt too “bored”. Swimming soon took over his life and he was hailed a child prodigy: Kutral swam the English channel when he was 12, entered the Guinness World Records for swimming across six straits within a calendar year and represented the country at several international competitions.
And then, when everyone thought he would achieve greater heights, he quit swimming.
Cut to the present, and Kutral has done multiple things; he has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts, USA, worked with Intel and is currently with Nanban Ventures in Canada. “Swimming isn’t a lucrative field. I aspired for a certain quality of life, which wouldn’t have been possible had I continued. Today, I am in a position to give back to society.”
