J&K: Top water sports exponents from country to compete in KIWSF

Some of the country’s finest canoe, kayak and rowing athletes will compete on the iconic Dal Lake when the inaugural Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF) begins here on Thursday.

The three-day championship will feature more than 400 athletes vying for 24 gold medals across canoeing, kayaking and rowing, with Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala expected to dominate. The KIWSF is the first consolidated open-age category competition in which all 14 kayaking and canoeing events and 10 rowing events from the Olympic curriculum will be staged.

The festival will also showcase three demonstration events — water skiing, ‘shikhara’ boat sprints and dragon boat racing — to add glamour to proceedings. In total, 36 states and union territories are participating.

“Since Services will not take part in these Games as a team, it will be good to see how the states compete and perform. The course has been prepared keeping all international specifications in mind and we are all set to go,” said competition manager Bilquis Mir, a former World Cup canoeist and Olympic judge.

The KIWSF is the latest addition to the Khelo India calendar, following the first Khelo India Beach Games in Diu in May. In line with the Khelo Bharat Niti, both water and beach games are being promoted to boost sport and tourism.

For athletes, the opportunity is highly valued. “This is a great opportunity for water sports athletes since we get only a few opportunities throughout the year to participate in national-level events. Now, KIWSF will give us a chance to excel,” said Suhani Meena, a rower from Madhya Pradesh.

Qualification standards have been kept high. In kayaking and canoeing, the Tehri Nationals (Uttarakhand, November 2024) provided the benchmark, with the top 15 in singles and doubles and the top eight in fours eligible. In rowing, only the top eight from the Bhopal Nationals (March 2025) have qualified.

Among the star attractions is India’s leading rower, Army man Arjun Lal Jat, representing Delhi. The 28-year-old competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won silver in the lightweight double sculls at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. “This is my first Khelo India event and I will participate in men’s single sculls.Such events should happen more often as they provide a platform to the athletes of J&K to represent India at the international level,” Jat said.

The competition has near-equal male and female participation, with 202 women among the 409 athletes. Madhya Pradesh (44), Haryana (37), Odisha (34) and Kerala (33) are sending the largest contingents, while Gujarat, Puducherry and West Bengal will field the smallest teams.

Three gold medals in kayaking and canoeing will be decided on the opening day, while all 10 rowing finals will be held on August 23. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Thursday.