Tall height & love for wearing olive, agrarian belt of Haryana-Punjab-Rajasthan drives Indian rowing

Armed with a rustic physique, broad frame and above six feet height and inclination to wear the olive green, the youth from the agricultural belt of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan are propelling the Indian rowing scene. 

The rowers from the Indian army are contributing the lion’s share in the national rowing circuit and within the army, the agrarian states of North India are contributing the maximum.

In the ongoing National Games in Ahmedabad, the rowers from the services team won the top honours in all the seven races in the men’s section. Even the Indian army had a contribution in the teams of Jharkhand, Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.

“Rowing is a tough and expensive sport, because of the equipment and infrastructure, so outside the preview of army or paramilitary forces, it’s not easy to pursue it,” said Dronacharya awardee rowing coach Ismail Baig.

“As far as Indian men’s rowing is concerned, it’s the Indian Army that is driving the sport. Maximum of our rowers have pursued the sport only after joining the army. Even I didn’t have any idea about the sport before I joined the services." "Within the army, though we are getting rowers from across the country, over 75 percent of the contribution comes from the agricultural belt of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh. The main reason is that we easily get six feet plus height and rustic physique in this part of the country. Good height is an advantage in rowing,” added Baig.

Over the years, changing socio-economic conditions meant that land holdings in the rural areas are shrinking and the army emerged as the major career option for the youth in the rural belt.

“I had never heard of rowing before joining the army and I was picked for the sport because of my height,” says two-time Asian Games medalist Dushyant Chauhan, who hails from village Khulana in Haryana’s Jhajjar district.

Dushyant along with Sukhmeet, a native of Punjab, and Haryana’s Manjeet Kumar & Slaman Khan won gold for services in the quadruple sculls in 2022 National Games at Sabarmati Riverfront course.