17th Sub-Junior & 18th Challenger Sprints National Rowing Championships launched

Kolkata, 3rd June, 2014: Rowing Federation of India and West Bengal Rowing Association today announced the commencement of 17th Sub-Junior & 18th Challenger Sprints National Rowing Championships 2014 at The Lake Club. This event has gained recognition as the first major and widely participated national level rowing championship for budding rowers. With help of this platform, Rowing Federation of India (RFI) aims to promote rowing among youth and create a talented world-class rower base in the country. This year, the Championship has received participation from over 400 young rowers from 17 states with entries coming from Andaman, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Corps of Engineers apart from host state West Bengal.

There are two different categories for both Boys and Girls. The Sub-Junior category consists of Under-15 and Under-13 rowers and the Challenger is an open age category for rowers who have not won medals at the Open Nationals or at the Challenger Nationals. The rowers will battle it out on the Rabindra Sarobar lake waters for the coveted Gold, Silver, and Bronze titles during the four-day competition. The winners of sub-juniors will take part in the Junior Nationals later this year. Depending on their performance and potential, the rowers will be selected to join the National Junior Training Camp in Hyderabad, where RFI selects the Junior India Team to represent India in the Asian Juniors and the World Juniors. With the main event scheduled from 4th -7th June 2014, participants have already started camping at the club for practice sessions.

Chief Guest Mr. D.B Sundara Raman, Executive In-Charge, Ferro Alloys and Minerals, Tata Steel inaugurated the event. Present at the occasion were Mr M. V. Sriram, Secretary-General, Rowing Federation of India; Mr. Chandan Roy Choudhury, President, West Bengal Rowing Association; Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Honorary Secretary of the West Bengal Rowing Association & Chairman of the Coaching and Selection Sub-Committee of West Bengal Rowing Association, and Dr. S L Sarkar, President, The Lake Club.

Commenting on the initiative Mr M. V. Sriram, Secretary-General, Rowing Federation of India, said, “Over the years, the Sub-Junior and Challenger Championship has produced some of India’s finest rowing talent. There is a huge talent pool waiting to be tapped in semi-urban and rural areas across far-flung states. Rowing is a sport that requires early start for the skills and correct muscle group to develop. Hence, the sub-junior championship is critically important as the stepping-stone because it attracts young rowers of the right age from different corners of the country to explore and build on their capacities. We hope and believe that rowers who perform well at this level will develop into world champions. This championship encourages young rowers to participate and provides access to the route of achieving success.”

Mr. Chandan Roy Choudhury, President, West Bengal Rowing Association added, “It has been a consistent effort on part of West Bengal Rowing Association to make this sport accessible and interesting for everyone across different sections of the society. WBRA is affiliated to the Rowing Federation of India and has been constantly promoting rowing. West Bengal has been a steady performer at the national level rowing championships. We have a successful track record of creating talented rowers and have been particularly successful in this championship. Last year we won 5 medals, including 3 golds. To increase the popularity of rowing, WBRA member clubs like Lake Club, Calcutta Rowing Club and Bengal Rowing Club have been organising inter-school regattas and summer camps regularly that attract and develop young rowers.”

The Principal Sponsor for the Championship is Tata Steel.