95 years of Regatta

Recently, the Mula river was lit, quite literally, as participants of the College of Engineering Pune Technological University's (COEP TECH) age-old event Regatta, rowed across the river in illuminated rowing boats. The 95th edition of the Regatta was a special one because it was organised in full swing like the pre-pandemic times. The Regatta is an annual boat festival by the students of the institution.With a history of over 94 years, the event is counted as one of the major attractions for Punekars and draws a large crowd. Like every year, this year too, the event had a unique theme- Stride Towards Pinnacle.

The theme signifies the journey of the event over the past few years, highlighting the future event and the progress toward success. The one-day event took place at the Boat club of COEP and a range of boat shows were presented by 200+ participants who have been trained for months at the Boat club. There were five presentations at the Regatta — Arrow formation featured 15 rarest boat rowing in the shape of an arrow and the tip of the arrow, which has one of the three wooden lighters of Asia. Then came the Kayak Ballet which featured kayaks, Shell Games and Tele Matcheds featured rowing boats, Punt Formation with punting boats, and Mashal Dance, which took place on the river bank where participants performed with fire torches.

The event was attended by some famous faces like actor Vaibhav Tatwawadi, an alumnus of COEP. The actor was there with the entire team of his upcoming film 'Circuitt' scheduled to release on April 7. The film is directed by debutant Aakash Pendharkar and produced by Madhur Bhadarkar. The film features Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Hruta Durgule and Ramesh Pardeshi. The entire team promoted the film on campus and the teaser of the film was shown at Regatta. Reminiscing about his time in COEP, Vaibhav shared," I remember my days in college, especially during monsoon. The rains completely transform the campus and add serene magic to it and it's unforgettable." The chief guest of the event was Abhishek Bhatewara, ED of a renowned real estate brand and the guest of honour was Bharat Pathak, director of an investment management company.