Top water sports exponents from country to compete in KIWSF

Some of the best canoe, kayak and rowing exponents from across the country will vie for supremacy at the iconic Dal Lake when the inaugural Khelo India Water Sports Festival commences here on Thursday.
The three-day event will see more than 400 athletes compete for 24 gold medals in the three water sports disciplines with Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala expected to dominate.
The KIWSF is the first consolidated Open-age category championship where all 14 kayaking & canoeing events and 10 rowing events, which are part of the Olympic curriculum, will be held.
The first edition of the KIWSF will also have three demonstration events – water skiing, ‘shikhara’ boat spring and dragon boat race – to add more glamour to the event.
A total of 36 states and union territories are participating in the festival.
“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 Cupper canoeist and an Olympic judge.
The KIWSF is the latest addition to the Khelo India calendar with the inaugural Khelo India Beach Games taking place in Diu in May.
As per the Khelo Bharat Niti, both the Water Games and Beach Games are being organised to promote sports and attract tourism.
Suhani Meena, a rower from Madhya Pradesh who will be competing here, said the KIWSF was a great opportunity to showcase her talent.
“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,” she said.
The qualification standards for all medal events have been kept very high. In kayaking and canoeing, the last nationals held at Tehri (Uttarakhand) in November will be the benchmark.
The top 15 in singles and doubles and the top-eight in fours will participate in KIWSF. In rowing, only the the top-eight from the nationals held in Bhopal in March this year will be eligible.
The country’s leading rower, Army man Arjun Lal Jat, representing Delhi here, will be one of the star attractions. Jat, 28, has taken part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won silver in the light-weight double sculls at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.
“This is my first Khelo India event and I will participate in men’s single sculls. Khelo India is very well supported by the Government of India. Such events should happen more often as they provide a platform to the athletes of Jammu and Kashmir to represent India at the international level,” said Jat.
The KIWSF will see almost equal representation from men and women. Of the 409 athletes competing for medals, 202 will are female. Madhya Pradesh (44), Haryana (37), Odisha (34) and Kerala (33) will have some of the largest contingents at KIWSF 2025, while Gujarat, Puducherry and West Bengal will have the smallest teams. Nitish Chaudhary, a two-time national silver medallist from Rajasthan, said, “For a water sports athlete like me, the climate and the facilities here are amazing.”
Three gold medals – in kayaking and canoeing – will be decided on day one. All 10 rowing finals are slotted on August 23.
The opening ceremony, expected to be attended by the union minister of state Raksha Khadse, will be held on Thursday.