USC Viterbi senior Upamanyu Dutta is on a mission to become an Olympian sailor. He is also working hard to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. It may be difficult to balance both parts of his life, but to Upamanyu, it is definitely worth it.
His journey to become a professional yachtsman began when he was seven years old. Growing up in Mumbai, India, he was exposed to the sport through his father and grandfather who also used to sail. Upamanyu remembers “[my dad] was the one who picked me up and put me in a boat when I was a little kid, and he was the one who taught me how to sail.” Young Upamanyu enjoyed it and kept at it for fun, until he turned 11 and started to sail competitively.
That was when he saw his lifestyle slowly begin to change: he took a few months off from school and joined training camps. And just like that, he won his first gold medal in the “under 12 years” category at the National Open Optimist Championship in Goa, India that same year.
With the support of his parents, Upamanyu had the opportunity to travel and compete internationally. He participated in competitions around East Asia at first, such as the IODA Asian Optimist Championship in both Thailand and Malaysia. Later on, he traveled around Europe and take part in more races representing India.
After beginning his studies at USC in 2016, he decided to campaign for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. He took a gap year from his studies to focus on training and fundraising.
Getting ready for the Olympics is not an easy task. According to Upamanyu, sailors need two years of full-time training to be ready. They also need a dedicated support team. Upamanyu was lucky to have a sailing coach, a fitness trainer, a sport psychologist and a nutritionist by his side during the preparation period. During this preparation period, he trains five days per week and spends 30 hours per week in the water.
The hard work definitely paid off because Upamanyu made it through the national qualifiers. Unfortunately he was injured right before the next step and then the pandemic derailed his Olympic plans. This opened the door for him to leave Malta, where he was living and training at the time, and come back to Los Angeles to finish his studies and join the USC sailing team.
What’s next for Upamanyu?
The future is bright. He will graduate with a B.S at the end of this year and will continue on his sailing journey. “Hopefully during my final semester I will be working on something related to yacht design for my senior project. I’ve been exploring that throughout my engineering degree as well,” he said. He hopes to get some work experience in the field he’s passionate about and then get back to his mission of qualifying for the Olympics. He will actively campaign to represent India at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and at the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Qualifying is just as hard as winning a medal at the games, so this next step in his life will be a big one.
Do you want to know more? Follow Upamanyu’s Olympics campaign journey on his website, learn about USC’s spectular Olympic heritage, download the facts and complete roster of USC Olympians, and visit the virtual USC Olympic gallery.
Written by: Tamara Amhaz, OIS Communications Editor, Master of Communication Management, USC Annenberg 2022 and Melissa Mancini, OIS Communications Editor, Master of Arts – Public Relations and Advertising, USC Annenberg 2022