India Inducts 22 Rowers Into TOPS Development Group

Overview

• The Mission Olympic Cell approved the induction of 22 rowers into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme Development Group in its 174th meeting, a decision announced on Monday.
• Selections were finalised after the Rowing Federation of India completed annual national trials and crew confirmation.
• The athletes are organised into six boat classes — M1X, M2X, M4X, LM2X, M4- and W4- — so training and competition focus on crew performance rather than only individual events.
• The cohort includes Paris 2024 Olympian Balraj Panwar and 2022 Asian Games medallists Arvind Singh and Jaswinder Singh, who will join younger rowers on the World Cup circuit and at the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games in September–October 2026.
• Beyond the Asian Games, the induction aims to expand India’s rowing depth and infrastructure ahead of the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, where rowing is expected to reappear after decades out of the programme.