Rowing season begins amidst heavy rain

Heavy rain last Sunday in Colombo was never a threat to the Annual Opening Regatta on Beira Lake, organised by the Colombo Rowing Club (CRC), which was the curtain raiser of the 2019 Rowing programme.

The participation of Schools and the University of Colombo (UoC), along with the CRC crews made the event a success, with a Mixed Junior Fours and a Senior Four crews making the competition more interesting.

Ananda College, Colombo 10, opened their new Rowing calendar with a splash, winning 2 separate events, while honours were shared by the other teams. The Anandian Under (U)-14 put up a fine display to win the Men’s Sculls event, while Gateway College won the Women’s event.

In the U-14 Men’s and Women’s Double Sculls events Royal College, Colombo 7, and CRC emerged winners respectively.

Ladies College won the Junior Sculls event while UoC won the Junior Pairs event.

A Mixed Junior Fours event made up of Anushri Udamulla, Mayuvindi Ekanayake, Diana Fernando, Thimaya Dassanayake and Binadi Guuge emerged winners.

S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, bagged the Gordon Armstrong Trophy for the Scullers’ event, while the Ananda College pair took possession of the Vanlangenburg Trophy.

The HMS Enterprise – a Mixed Four Race was won by a crew comprising Shehan Weerasekera, Maneth Pothupitiya, Nadive Jayathilake, Kavinda Ariyaratne and Vimoda Abeywardene.

The Mixed Four Races attracted special attention as 4 Rowers from different crews of different training schedules, different motivations and different methods, combined to form a crew, which opens a window for them to learn quickly and to work together.

The skills and technique exhibited by the competitors signaled that the events to follow will be highly competitive, especially among the schools.