The Indian state of Goa hosted the country’s first ever beach sprint championship this past weekend. The championship included teams representing both states and military service units competing in five different events.
Amrita Minj, from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, won the women’s solo while Ravi, from Services Sports Control Board, took the men’s solo title. The men’s double was won by Prabhakar Rajawat and Robin representing the Indian Navy, the women’s double by Shivrani Kateria and Arushi Barar, from the state of Maharashtra, and Ekshith Sai and Manasa SM from the state of Karnataka took victory in the mixed double.
Brought by the British Empire, rowing has a long history in India—its first club, the Calcutta Rowing Club, was founded in 1858—but the country has so far struggled on the international stage. India has never won a World Championship medal in rowing and its sole representative at that level last year was a PR3 mixed double. In beach sprint, just one Indian rower has competed to date in the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals: Gayle Zulema de Miranda in the under-19 women’s solo in 2021.
However, perhaps that situation could change. The Army Rowing Node based in Pune, India, was named the 2025 Rowing Programme of the Year by World Rowing in January. And should the country turn its attention to beach sprint it has a key advantage: India’s coastline stretches for more than 11,000km, and includes thousands of sandy beaches.