Pune: The ‘storm’ that threatened India’s chances at the Nagaragawa regatta course blew over on Tuesday with the rowers shrugging off last-minute changes in entries and focussing on winning medals at the Asian Games competition.The oarsmen had been mighty upset with the changes that saw crew combinations being altered and athletes swapped from one event to another after Monday’s practice session at Nagara river, located between the cities of Aisai and Kaizu.The disgruntlement was so deep that a cloud of uncertainty hung over Tuesday’s practice session, a day before the start of match racing. But a combination of inevitability and a good deal of cajoling from a senior member of the team management has persuaded the rowers to enter the boats.“”We are going by what our manager has told us. We will be giving our best when we enter the water, but they shouldn’t have done this,” one of the rowers told The Times of India on condition of anonymity.“It has brought a lot of pressure and anxiety. I couldn’t sleep last night, I was very disturbed.“A crew combination is set for six months or one year. We have been practising for long, and when it is changed one day before such a big competition, the athlete gets disturbed mentally.“Crew combination is important in rowing. Someone who is not in quad (quadruple) for six months, what is he going to achieve in one day?“But it’s okay, whatever that has happened is God’s will. Whatever event we enter, we won’t give up until we die. Which ever athlete it is, he will give his life because this chance, this platform, is not something one gets everyday, but once in four years.“But what happened was wrong.”The athlete said the most upsetting part was that the rowers were merely informed of the change in entries, there was no discussion.Yet, they were helpless. “We are under the Army. We compete as a team. If there is any indiscipline, we will never be able to row again.”The disenchantment with the turn of events notwithstanding, the rower assured that everyone would be giving his “110 percent” once on the boat.“Ye Hindustan ki baat hai, Tirange ki baat hai. We have come here to achieve something big, and we will,” he said. “We will do it for the country. We won’t return home without a medal.”Antony Patterson, India’s head coach from Australia, and the Rowing Federation of India president Balaji Maradapa had on Monday said that the shuffling of combination was necessitated by the curtailed rowing programme in Nagoya following heavy rains and the changes were made keeping in mind the best possible chance of winning medals.“Due to the shortened regatta programme, I as the chief coach has made the decision to focus on possible medals, not individual comfort of athletes,” Patterson told The Times of India in a text message on Monday.Balaji highlighted the need to adapt because of the change in schedule.“Originally it was four plus one day of races. Now it is just two days and four sessions of races each day. How can you be doubling,” Balaji said, referring to rowers competing in more than one event.The Games competition, which was scheduled to have begun on Monday, will now be held Wednesday and Thursday. Balaji said all teams have been allowed to change their entries following the revision in schedule.The issue might have its seeds in the poor results at the World Championships in the Netherlands in late August. Although Rohit and Ujjwal Singh finished a remarkable fourth in lightweight double scull, India’s best ever finish at the worlds, and Ajay Tyagi topped Final C in lightweight single scull, the rest of the crew mostly brought up the rear in their respective events.The rowers had also had an extensive training camp in Belgium prior to Amsterdam.Yet, their morale seems to have nose-dived drastically that the Army Rowing Node in Pune felt the need to hastily arrange a four-day stint with sports psychology firm Mind School just before their departure to Japan.
