Preparations Underway for Nehru Trophy Boat Race

And finally today, in India: Preparations begin for an annual boat race.

Braving the rough weather conditions, enthusiastic rowers carried out their first practice session for the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru Trophy. They trained in the backwaters of the Alleppey in India's southern state of Kerala Thursday.

With the countdown for the annual Snake Boat Race having already begun, the participants are leaving no stone unturned to garner the best physical and mental toughness required for this sport.

Locals came out in large numbers to support the fervor and hard work of their favorite teams, as the rowers rolled their exquisitely crafted snake boats into the backwaters for the training session.

The participants are all geared up for the rigorous training session under specialized trainers lined up for them ahead of the event.

[K. Judy, Second Captain, Devas Team]:
"We will be doing our regular practice from now onwards. A camp will be organized and in that we will have rigorous training sessions which will be conducted by Mr. Jose from Kainagerry village, since morning."

The Nehru Trophy boat race has been an annual event at Punnamada Lake for the past 57 years.

The most popular event of the race is the snake boat competition.

The task of designing and building the snake boat takes over a year to complete. The boat carries up to 150 people, which include oarsmen and a group of musicians to cheer the team on as they try and propel their boat ahead of their competitors.

[Kunjumon P., Coordinator, Devas Team]:
"Everyone in our team believes that this boat newly built has all the features required to win the race. Apart from this, we have come up with the best group of rowers. So, I think our boat will be getting a good position in this year's Nehru Trophy race."

The Nehru Trophy Boat Race will be held on August 14th.

The first boat race was held in 1952 to honor the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was on a trip to the state.

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