Exploring new avenues of empowerment – Haryana witnessing rowing revolution through girls 

Till a couple of years ago, rowing was almost unheard of in the agrarian state of Haryana. 

Whatever exposure or accomplishments the state had in the sport came through the rowers of the Indian army hailing from the state. They all had started the water sport only after joining the army. 

In the 36th National Games in Gujarat, Haryana won four medals – three silver and a bronze – in rowing and all the medals were won by the civilians, who picked up the sport in the state only.

Out of four rowing podium finishes in the Haryana’s medal tally, the girls contributed the lion’s share, clinching three silver medals. 

It’s for the first time that Haryana won a medal in women’s rowing at the country's biggest multi-discipline games. 

“The sport is picking up in Haryana and for the last few years many youngsters are opting rowing. Now, the girls from the state have surpassed their male counterparts in terms of achievements,” said rowing coach Chand Chahal, who runs a rowing academy in village Haibatpur, Jind. "Five girls had got government jobs and that is a great motivation for others to pursue the sport."

In the women’s section, Haryana finished behind Kerala, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

“Kerala and Odisha are the country’s powerhouses in rowing and the sport has existed there for a long time. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government is running a state-of-art rowing academy, but as far as Haryana is concerned, we don’t have any infrastructure or the government centre. Whatever the results we are achieving is because of the individual efforts. So, considering the limitations, our girls did a great job in the Games,” said Chahal.

From wrestling to rowing

National Games medalists Savita Sihag and Suman Dhanda started their sporting career with wrestling and later switched over to rowing.

“Earlier I used to do wrestling and played till state-level. But when a rowing academy was opened in our village, I thought of giving it a try. Since then rowing took over wrestling,” said Savita, who paired up with Pooja to clinch gold in the lightweight double scull.