Rohini Rau
In a country where the sporting landscape is dominated by cricket, Rohini Rau chose sailing, because of her love of the seas and the mental and physical challenges it provides.
As India’s top ranked female sailor, her list of achievements is starting to become very impressive.
She recently became the Indian Women's Laser Radial champion for the seventh successive year, finishing second in the open division. Rohini is the first Indian woman to win an international medal in an Olympic class – the laser radial.
Rau said she is excited by Perth's extreme conditions, with strong winds and warm weather creating the ideal training ground for the younger sailors keen to learn the ropes.
"Perth is great for the heavy wind training," she said.
"I am looking forward to seeing where I stand and then figuring out what I will have to do to make sure I qualify for Perth 2011. It is definitely one of the benchmarks in my performance evaluation."
Rau said the ENP camp helped surround herself with like-minded athletes who had similar ambitions.
"Competing with Australian sailors is great as they have a really good training programme throughout the year," she said.
"It's nice that for the three or four weeks, all we do is think about sailing and we don't have distractions like university and life back home.
“My ultimate sailing ambition is to become the first Indian woman to qualify in sailing at the Olympic Games."
Away from sailing, Rau is towards the business end of a double degree in a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery, but due to sailing commitments and ambitions, is hoping to complete her studies in 2014.
- Name: Rohini Rau
- Nation: India
- Discipline: Women's One Person Dinghy