Tomasz Januszewski’s first time on a sailboat was in Mrągowo, a historical region in Poland, which is also known for its lakes. His father, Andrzej, who was a champion in ice sailing, pushed a young Januszewski into the water. “Go for it,” Januszewski remembers his words. “But, I wasn’t scared at all. That exact moment, I knew what I wanted to become when I grow up,” he recalls, over a call from Poland.

Januszewski comes from a family of sailors—grandfather Edmund and father Andrzej were ace ice sailors, brother Wojciech is a top windsurfer in the Polish youth fleet and is a kitesurfing instructor, uncle Janusz, who is now 87, is one of the oldest active sailors in the world; he only stopped sailing at 80, and Januszewski’s aunt Teresa was a judge of sailing competitions until she passed away last year. “Everyone in my family is connected to sailing in one way or the other; so being a part of the sport was a simple choice. I knew right from the start this was going to be my way of living until the end. While I also went to the university, and studied geodesy engineering there, I prefer staying closer to the water. Initially, I began training in the lakes in my hometown of Mrągowo. But gradually, I practised in the Baltic Sea,” Januszewski shares.