KOLKATA: In absence of rowing activities at Rabindra Sarobar for over two and half months now, Bengal Rowing Association will be forced to select a six-member team for the 36th National Games - to be held at Gujarat next month - based on the performance on an ergometer test this Tuesday.
Incidentally, two months ago, Bengal had sent a 28-member team for a National Championship in Kashmir based on the same test and the team had returned with medals in five events, including two Golds.
Ergometer is a machine that simulates action of rowing on water and measures work performed by the rower in ergs. "An ergometer only tests the stamina of an athlete but water rowing is about many other abilities as well. However, with all rowing activities suspended at the Lake, ergometer test is the only option we have for the selection trials. We did so while selecting the team for the National Championship in June and the team exceeded our expectations. We just hope, this time too, they surpass our expectations," said Aniruddha Mookerjee, secretary, West Bengal Rowing Association.
The 36th National Games will be hosted by Gujarat between September 27 and October 10 across six cities. This is the first time the state is hosting a national sporting event. The tournaments will have more than 34 events in six different venues. The previous edition of the National Games was held in 2015. Officials attributed the 7-year delay to several reasons, including the Covid pandemic.
"Bengal has qualified to participate in only one rowing event - a men's fours event. The selection committee will choose top four rowers with better timings on the ergometer. There will be two reserve rowers as well along with a coach-cum-manager, comprising the entire team," said Mookerjee. He added that the association has waited this long hoping for resumption of rowing activities at the Lake, but with August 10 as the deadline set by the Bengal Olympic Association, they decided to conduct the selection trials on August 9.
Bengal has three rowing clubs - Calcutta Rowing Club, Lake Club and Bengal Rowing Club. Four members of the fours team from each club will participate in the test. The top 6 finalists will be chosen and the team will be submitted before the BOA on August 9.
Rowing activity has been suspended at the Rabindra Sarobar since the death of two young rowers on May 21. Following their deaths, Kolkata Police devised a slew of SOPs to maintain for the clubs and while all other stipulations were met with, the resumption process halted at the speedboat hurdle. To meet the NGT guidelines, the clubs were advised to use battery- operated speedboats for rescue operations, but after multiple trials club authorities were not satisfied with the result and had written to the KMDA and NGT to allow petrol-operated speed boats.
