The Lake Club announces the 41st K C Mahindra All India Invitation Schools’ Regatta 2013
Kolkata, 22nd May, 2013: The Lake Club, one of the premier Rowing clubs from Bengal, today announced the commencement of its 41st K C Mahindra All India Invitation School’s Regatta 2013 in association with the Mahindra Group. Introduced in 1973, the event has gained national recognition by the Rowing Federation of India and is one of the oldest and the largest rowing events in Asia, with the widest participant base of rowers. Lake Club aims to promote rowing as a sport among school going children across India. This year, the school regatta has received applications from over 350 young rowers from 60 schools with entries from Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, apart from host state West Bengal, who will battle it out on the Rabindra Sarobar lake waters for the coveted trophy during the week-long championship. There are four trophies in four categories with the winners in Junior and Senior Girls, and Junior and Senior Boys. There are two trophies for best disciplined school teams, in both the Girls’ and Boys’ categories. With the main event scheduled from 9th -16th June 2013, students have already begun camping at the club for practice sessions every morning and evening.
Present at the occasion were Mr. Subrata Datta, Founding Member of the Rowing Federation of India & the Asian Rowing Federation who spoke about the increasing opportunities in national and international fora for Indian rowers, given the increasing interest in the sport; Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Honorary Secretary of the West Bengal Rowing Association & Chairman of the Coaching and Selection Sub-Committee of West Bengal Rowing Association, Mr. Ashok Mehta, President of the Jury, School Regatta and Mr. Kalyan Sarangi, Convenor, School Regatta; Dr. S L Sarkar, President, The Lake Club and Mr. Sudip Naha, Captain of Boats, The Lake Club.
Mr. Ranadeep Moitra, well known celebrity fitness expert and trainer, conducted a special workshop on ‘Rowing for Fitness’ with the young students. He shared tips on fitness and highlighted rowing as a complete exercise regime.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. S L Sarkar, President, The Lake Club said, “This regatta over the years has produced some of India’s best rowing talent across boundaries with students participating from far-flung states. It has been the consistent effort of the club to make rowing accessible and interesting for all across different sections of society. We continue to promote rowing on an ongoing basis with just a token fee of Re.1/- only per student per month and provide the entire training and infrastructure equipment and facilities including a modern gym, superior fibre glass boats and carbon shaft oars along with many other modern equipment. This opportunity is open to all students from any background till the age of 25 and Lake Club is the only Rowing institution in the country to do so.”
He further shared, “We have a successful track record of creating talented rowers and a dominant percentage of participants from Bengal, at the Nationals and Internationals have trained and participated in this championship. Superior coaching and training facilities are essential in developing the abilities of the students. We believe our endeavor has and will garner potential Olympians from today’s young rowers.”
Honouring Mr. K C Mahindra, one of the founders of Mahindra Group, who was also the first Captain of Boats, Lake Club (1930-1935) and President of the Lake Club (1939-1940), the Mahindra Group has entered into a five year partnership supporting the All India Invitation School’s Regatta.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. SP Shukla, President, Group Strategy, Defence Sector, and Chief Brand Officer, Mahindra Group shared, “This association is an extension of the Mahindra brand philosophy, expressed by the word Rise. Mahindra has always been about pushing boundaries and exceeding expectations, and through this sponsorship we seek to encourage students with an interest in this sport to indulge in their passion and reach greater heights. One of our founders, Mr. K C Mahindra had a passion for rowing – he had a rowing blue at Cambridge, went on to become the first Captain of Boats, and subsequently, President of the Lake Club – and we’re proud to have this event carry his name.”