CHENNAI: Former Indian Olympic gold medal winning hockey captain V Baskaran often said that varsity sports are always important for the growth of an athlete as it served as a platform to identify and groom talent at the senior level. Rower Lavanya Nambiar of MOP Vaishnav College lives by these suggestions. She won a gold medal in the single scull event at the All India Inter-University Rowing Championships at Chandigarh, representing the Madras University team. They won six events at the competition where 25 universities took part. Since every rower in the team was a state medallist and many of them were also junior and sprint national medallists, the small contingent was powerful.
“It was a great learning experience. I think University sports are extremely important. It helps not only build the competitive spirit but also allows us to meet student-athletes from all over the country,” said Lavanya, echoing Baskaran’s views.
The final year BBA student joined a rowing summer camp in 2018 at Madras Boat Club and has since made steady progress. “I competed in the 4th Indoor Rowing National Championships in September 2019 at Patna and won a bronze in the junior women’s 2000 m event. This was my first nationals experience and a turning point in my rowing career,” she recalled.
Lavanya has often opted to compete in the single scull, fours and occasionally in the double sculls as well. “There are several factors that played a role in my wins this year — from training 10-12 times a week, nutrition and rehab to having an amazing support system of coaches and mentors, parents. They helped me become physically and mentally stronger,” she shared.
Being a specialised sport, rowers cannot train anywhere. It requires a set of professionals to guide them. Luckily, Chennai has got a good team of professionals. “I usually train at Madras Boat Club. However, I go to Sri Ramachandra Water Sports Center to train in state camps for national events. I have been fortunate to get a chance to train under some brilliant coaches. In 2019, I was coache by Siddharth Sunil, a multi-national medallist and S&C. I also trained under Ratheesh DB an international medallist and Bhaskar Reddy a national medallist and the head coach of Tamil Nadu Rowing. They have been very influential in my sport. Currently, I am working with Gajendran, who is an international medallist as well,” she said.
Lavanya, who is constantly working on improving her strength, stamina and rowing technique, believes that funding is a major issue that ails the sport, like many others. “From equipment to rowing courses and hostel facilities, the sport could do with support. Being a niche sport, I feel the athletes do not get enough support, incentives or recognition. With improvements in said areas, we would be able to train and perform better,” said Lavanya, with the hope that she does well in the upcoming events and earns a chance to represent the country in international competitions.
Laurels & mishaps
Lavanya has also competed in an Asian inter-club event in 2020 where she won a gold and silver on the ergometer and single sculls respectively. She missed the opportunity to row at the senior national rowing championships in 2019 due to a boat accident during training.