Wednesday, September 28, 2011

27th Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals

The 27th rowing nationals was held on 15th, 16th and 17th of September 2011 on the waters of Bolgoda lake, panadura. After about 10 years of disappearance, Sri Lanka Army also took place in this event making the total number of participation to 17 teams and more than 300 contestants.

The regatta was conducted under age categories, which are:
  • under 16
  • under 19
  • over 19
  • open   
                      And in each category, races were for both men and women.


After three days of exciting races, the regatta was ended up with the following results:

MEN'S

Category
First place
Second place
Third place
Open
Sri Lanka Air Force
Colombo Rowing Club
Sri Lanka Navy
Over 19
Sri Lanka Air Force
Sri Lanka Navy
University of Moratuwa
Under 19
Ananda College
Royal College
St Thomas’ College
Under 16
St Thomas’ College
Royal College
Ananda College

WOMEN'S


Category
First place
Second place
Third place
Open
Ladies College
Colombo Rowing Club
Museaus College
Over 19
SL Army
University of Moratuwa
Kothalawala Defense University
Under 19
Ladies College
Colombo Rowing Club
Bishops College
Under 16
Ladies College
Colombo Rowing Club
Museaus College/Bishops College

Under 19 men's coxed fours finals: Ananda College winning the race.


Open men's cox-less fours finals: Sri Lanka Air Force winning the race by a split second beating St. Thomas' College.

 
Mora Rowing Crew:

 This time, moratuwa men's crew(mora) went to the regatta without their seniors rowing, but still managed to grab some medals showcasing some promising talents. their main focus was on the "Over 19" Category and after a close race they were beaten by the "Sri Lanka Air Force-A" in the coxed fours event. The crew was;
Samantha de Silva(B), Dinesh Kasunjith(3), Thilina Buddika(2), Charuka Kavinda(S) and Dasun Madushan(cox)

 
Along with that Samantha De Silva(B) and Charuka Kavinda(S) won the bronze medal in the Over 19 coxless pairs event too.

 The two medals were meant lot to the crew as these oarsmen are just having one year of experience. So it is quite sure that these young talents will achieve new heights in the rowing arena in Sri Lanka as the time goes on. At the same time, another crew of the mora took part in the "open coxless fours" event but managed to cross the finish line at 4th.



Initiating a new chapter in Mora Rowing, the women's crew managed to win a gold medal at this national regatta in the "Over 19" category. As this was the 1st time in mora rowing history, Nuwanthika Rajapakshe(S) and Radhavi Samarakoon (B) were able to race their coxless pair down the 2000m course and emerge 1st at the finish line. 


At the same time Nuwanthika Rajapakshe(S), Ashanthi Fernando(3), Udari de Alwis(2), Radhavi Samarakoon (B) and Nithini Thenuwara(Cox) were able to win the silver medal in the "Over 19" coxed fours event, advancing form the bronze they won last year.


Meanwhile Udari de Alwis(S) and Ashanthi Fernando(B) managed to win the bronze medal in the "Over 19" double sculls, which helped the team to secure the 2nd place in the women's over 19 category.

Winning three medals at the nationals is a remarkable achievement of the mora women's team, not only because this is the first time in the history of mora rowing, but also this has been their second year in rowing. 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

27th Rowing Nationals, Sri Lanka

The 27th annual national regatta of Sri Lanka is to be held in the upcoming week.

This time it will be on the 2000m course of bolgoda lake and every oarsman and oarswoman will take part in this contest. 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Bolgoda Regatta 2011

For the 8th time running, the Rowing crew of the University of Moratuwa, organized the famous "Bolgoda regatta" of this year, held on 3rd and 4th of September at Ranmal Holiday Resort, Panadura. This is the Sri Lanka's pioneering - 2000m - multi lane regatta, which has been conducting since 2003. 

This year's regatta was in tribute to Dr. Ray Wijeyawardhene, who was him self an oarsman, and supported the moratuwa university crew with building the sport inside the university and as well as outside. He took the initiative to start rowing at "Bolgoda Lake" and was one of the guys who supported and guided the mora crew, to start their 1st ever bolgoda regatta.

This year, there were more that 100 races(approx: 112) rowed in two days and the participation was more than 200. Races were rowed under men's and women's categories with

  • under 13
  • under 15
  • under 19
  • under 23
  • under 30
  • over 30 
  • open
6 trophies were awarded for men's and women's categories;
  • School category ( M / W )
  • Intermediate category ( M / W )
  • Senior Category (Open) ( M / W )
It was significant that this was the first appearance of Sri Lanka Army rowing crew after 2000-2001 season. They have been on stage until 2000/ 2001, dominating the waters, but disappeared into thin air due to some reasons. So this was their very first since then, and achieved some honor, announcing their arrival to the arena. 

results:

Men's category:
  • Senior Champs:  Colombo Rowing Club (CRC)
  • Intermediate Champs: Colombo Rowing Club
  • School Category: Royal College, Colombo
Women's category:
  • Senior Champs: Ladies College, Colombo
  • Intermediate Champs: Sri Lanka Army
  • School Category: Ladies College, Colombo
Participants:
  • Sri Lanka Army
  • Sri Lanka NAVY
  • Sri Lanka Air Force
  • Kothelawala Defense University
  • Moratuwa University
  • Colombo Rowing Club
  • Bolgoda Lake Rowing Club
  • Royal College
  • St. Thomas's College
  • Ananda College
  • Prince of Wales College
  • Asian International School
  • Ladies College
  • Musaeus College
  • Bishop's College