Coastal rowing soon in Pondy waters

CHENNAI: Puducherry may soon become the first centre in the country for coastal rowing. Plans are on to launch the “country’s first integrated rowing academy”, which promotes both flat water and coastal rowing, said Shunmugaraj K, honorary secretary, Société D' Aviron Pondicherry (the state’s rowing federation).
The federation is hosting a Row Fest on February 22 and 23 to generate interest in the sport.
“Apart from promoting the sport of coastal rowing, we hope to train rowers to be part of disaster relief operations, such as flood or tsunami relief, as well as promote Puducherry as a destination for sports tourism,” said Shunmugaraj, a former national-level rower.
Shunmugaraj said coastal rowing will begin in December. “We have already begun procuring the boats. We are looking for talent from among the local fishing community as well,” he said.
Coastal or open water rowing is performed at sea. The boats are wider and more buoyant than those used in flat water rowing. “It’s more of an extreme sport. We want to form an Indian team,” said Shunmugaraj.
“The state also has abundant water bodies and backwaters, which provide perfect conditions for flat water rowing,” he said.
The Société D' Aviron, which was registered in 2017, will be holding the third national indoor rowing championship next week as part of the row fest. Puducherry’s first state-level indoor rowing championship will also take place that weekend. A south zone championship rowing championship is being planned for May.
“The Chunambar lake and backwaters are ideal for rowing,” said Balaji Maradapa, treasurer, RFI. “You have a two-km stretch to the mouth of the sea. It is great for tourism because coastal rowing is a growing sport worldwide. In India, this will be the first.”