Khelo India Water Sports Festival begins at Dal Lake with 400 athletes

The inaugural three-day Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF) commenced at the iconic Dal Lake here on Thursday with over 400 athletes participating in the event, officials said.

The athletes are competing for medals in rowing, canoeing and kayaking. As many as 24 gold medals will be at stake over the next three days.

To add to the glamour of the festival, there will be three demonstration events — water skiing, shikhara boat spring and dragon boat race.

The KIWSF will see 36 states and Union Territories in action. Among them, all eyes will be on athletes from Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala.

“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,” Competition manager Bilquis Mir, a former World Cupper canoeist and an Olympic judge, said. KIWSF is a new addition to the Khelo India calendar.

In 2025, two new events have been added. The Khelo India Beach Games took place in Diu in May. As per the Khelo Bharat Niti, both the Water Games and Beach Games are aimed at promoting sports and attracting tourism.

For kayaking and canoeing, the last nationals held at Tehri (Uttarakhand) in November have been used as a qualifier. The top 15 in singles and doubles and the top eight fours will be participating in KIWSF.

For rowing, the top eight from the nationals held in Bhopal in March will take part, officials said.

There will be international flavour as well. Arjun Lal Jat, an Army rower who will represent Delhi, will be one of the main attractions.

Jat, 28, has taken part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won silver in the light-weight double sculls at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The games will see almost equal representation from men and women. Of the 409 athletes competing for medals, 202 will be female.

Madhya Pradesh (44), Haryana (37), Odisha (34) and Kerala (33) will have the largest contingents at KIWSF 2025. Gujarat, Puducherry and West Bengal have the smallest teams, officials said.

The water sports festival is the second Khelo India event in Jammu and Kashmir after the Khelo India Winter Games held in Gulmarg.