ARASL rows to 2000m International standards
For the first time in its history, the Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) will merge its annual National Novices & Intermediate Championship with the Inter-School Championship, to afford Oarsmen/women international standards of competition.
The twin competitions will be held from August 29 to September 2, on the 2,000m Rowing course at the Diyawannawa Rowing Centre in Koswatte, Rajagiriya.
In this 5-day competition, the Novices & Intermediate Championship will have 3 different categories for Men and Women. The events are Double Sculls, Coxed Fours and Coxless Quadruple Scull, which are for Oarsmen/women above age 18 on January 1, 2018, while the winning boat and combination will have the right to automatic qualification to next year's Open Nationals in the corresponding event.
"The reason to merge the InterSchool Championship with the Novices & Intermediate Rowing Championship is to boost the potential of our Oarsmen/women for the future, which has been long overdue. We have been looking at improving our standards in Rowing and the best platform is the Schools and Novices," said Diyawanna Rowing Centre Administrator and ARASL Coordinator Sithira Wickramasekara.
Events of both competitions will take place on a 4-lane course of 1 960 metres, which meets the basic international requirement for length and width for Rowing. ARASL efforts are in line with its objective of introducing Rowing to the outstations and increasing its numbers by 2020.
The ARASL-initiated programme 'Dakunata Rowing' was a clear success when over 10 schools joined to form the Southern Schools Rowing Association. This will be the first outing for those schools from the Southern region at the Inter-Schools Championship, where the number of participating schools would exceed 20.
Rowing is one of the oldest Water Sports in Sri Lanka, but confined to a handful of leading institutions in Colombo. However, few years back, the ARASL started a project to introduce the sport to more schools, resulting in over 10 schools Rowing in. With the latest addition, the numbers would rise and Wickramasekara is confident that, by the next year, the Inter-Schools Championship will have more schools Rowing.
"The ARASL is keen to see the sport grow islandwide but, at the same time, quality must be maintained at its highest. The reason behind shifting the Inter-Schools Championship from Beira Lake to Diyawanna Waters is to conform to international standards from the word go. We see a long way forward, if we start implementing the correct moves and paths for the newcomers and novices," he explained.
The 5-day competition will start with the opening ceremony at 7.30 am on August 29 at the Diyawanna Rowing Centre, near the Asoka Vidyalaya End, where the 'FINISH' line is. The 'START' line of the course will be the Boardwalk End near Rajagiriya. Apart from the 4 lanes, where Lane 1 will be along the Waters' Edge Bank and Lane 4 alongside the Buthgamuwa Bank, a warmup and service lane will be available outside Lane 4.
The ARASL conducted the 29th Rowing Nationals in June, 2017 which turned out to be a grand success. This will be the first occasion a School competition is being held on the waters of Diyawanna.