Scullers introduces ‘This is Life’ in Chennai
India’s young yachting achievers Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish share their inspiring journey of success
‘This is Life’ was an inspiring session where India’s young yachting achievers Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish shared their road to success at the Scullers exclusive store in Express Avenue Mall, Mount road. ‘This is Life’ by Scullers is a series of tête-à-tête sessions with achievers from diverse spears such as music, art, theatre and sport.
They come in and share their inspiring journeys to success. The event identifies with the genre of each guest invited to the event. The brand in keeping with their longstanding association with sculling has now moved to Chennai with ‘Sailing is Life’ through the two young Indian sailors. Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish qualified for the 420 Class National Squad, after winning all 10 races during the selection process held in Chennai in January, 2012.
They finished 3rd at the Under-19 420 Class National Championships as well. Back from the recently concluded 420 World Championships, an international 2-person sailing competition held in Austria, Shiv and Ankit are India’s young heroes of yachting. Ms. Rachna Aggarwal, CEO, Indus League said, "The idea is to provide a platform to those who pursue creative passions in life and achieve significant milestones in doing so.
This is what Scullers is all about. ‘This is life’ is designed to embrace a new lifestyle and the choices that come with it. We are glad that these young Indian sailors are part of the ‘This is Life’ series”. Speaking at the event, Shiv Rekhi said, “It’s my pleasure to be a part of Scullers - This is Life. I am glad I got an opportunity to share my sailing stories. This is surely a great platform for the achievers to share their experience of life.”
Ankit George Vivish said, “Scullers-This is Life is a wonderful platform to share our story of success and ‘This is Life’ should continue doing this with achievers from different spears of life. I am extremely happy to be a part it.” This is life’ kicked off with ‘Music is life’ by Dr. Benny Prasad-world’s most traveled musician in Bengaluru. Scullers is a brand that has over the years come to personify a lifestyle outside work and away from home.
‘This is Life’ identifies people who characterize - a lifestyle on a ‘road less travelled’, inspire others and gives them an opportunity to share their story through this platform.
About Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish
Sailing is truly Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish’s passion. Back from the recently concluded 420 World Championships, an international 2-person sailing competition held in Graz, Austria, Shiv and Ankit are also India’s young heroes of yachting. This year, 108 teams from around the globe participated in the competition, including 2 teams from India. India. They had qualified for the 420 National Squad, after winning all 10 races during the selection process held in Chennai in January, 2012.
They finished 3rd at the Under-19 420 Class National Championships. Shiv Rekhi and Ankit George Vivish joined the Activity Centre at Lady Andal Venkata Subbarao Matriculation Higher Secondary School in 1999 and have been together since then. Their friendship was strengthened because of their common interests and participating in school activities over the years. Both of them developed a passion for sailing and participated in various events in the International Optimist Class.
Living in Chennai, both Shiv and Ankit started sailing at the age of 9. Shiv showed interest in Cricket and Football and was part of the School Football team. His sailing interest developed due to his family being in competitive Indian sailing for the past 50 years. Shiv also went on to participate in a number of Regattas. His individual achievements in the Single Handers were:
- National Championship 2007- Optimist Class -Youngest sailor to complete the Series
- Under 12 National Championship 2009 - Winner Optimist class held at Kochi, Kerala
- Bombay Invitational Regatta 2007 Winner team championship- Optimist class
- Zonal Optimist sailing championship, Goa 2008 - 2nd runner up for the team
Ankit plays Cricket and Basketball and was part of his school basketball team. His passion for sailing is even more commendable since it is his own interest and follows a daily training routine. In the beginning, both of them participated representing Tamil Nadu and the Royal Madras Yacht Club in various International Optimist events. As they grew physically, they opted out of the Optimist and started sailing the Laser 4.7.
The International Optimist and Laser 4.7 are single hander boats for junior sailors. All this entailed traveling together and helping each other on the water thereby strengthening their bond and understanding. This led them to take a decision to sail the two man high performance sail boats together. Apart from excelling at academics, Ankit plays the drums and Shiv, the bass guitar for their school band.