The Indian rowers made a good impact in the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championship, which was held virtually this time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Rowers from across the world were “wired” which means the rowing is done indoor with an Ergometer.
The Ergometer is a sports equipment which creates rowing motion and it is monitored the way any athlete would be performing on water. It was originally intended to supplement training for Flat Water Rowing, during the harsh winter months in Europe and the US and Canada, whence most of the water bodies turn to ice.
It became a very popular and helpful tool in the hands of the coaches to evaluate the the training and fitness levels of rowers in a team. It also helped in deciding crew formations and help them take critical, vital decisions.
Usually, a World Rowing Indoor Championships takes place in a host city where all the athletes come together. They are provided Ergometers to row. This edition was different and because of the travel restrictions the world body did it in a different manner.
Technology was used in a big way where hardware and software integration had to be done through internet, provided by Time Team Regatta Systems for World Rowing. Individual rowers, in their Ergometers were wired up to the internet and showed their skills.
There was a qualification route to participate from Asia and other continents, with
a quota cap. In all, there was a total of 54 events of 2000 and 500 meter distance, comprising
men, women and para rowers of varying age category ranging from Under 19,
In all INDIA had 12 qualifiers in: Parminder Singh, Pratik Gupta, Mehul Krishnani, Anand
Pooja, Khushpreet Kaur, Avinash Kaur, Sanjay Jain, Tarun Krishna Prasad Gutta, Harvinder Singh Cheema Aryan, Madhumitha D Dineshkumar, Ravi Ravi and Ashish Phugat.
Meanwhile, the qualification process for the Tokyo Olympic will happen in summer. The Indian rowing contingent is training near Pune at present and some new names are showing promise.
