Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Rowing to victory
By Randima Attygalle
In the aftermath of the most sought after event of the country’s rowing calendar, the Royal-Thomian Rowing Regatta, the Royal College Senior Oarsmen proved themselves mighty, winning the prestigious Harry Creasy Trophy at the recently held regatta at the Beira Lake.

The highlight of the event was when two crews from Royal College beat the senior ‘national favourites’ of the Colombo Rowing Club at the semi-finals, and made it to the finals, bagging this coveted trophy.

Royal College winning ‘Senior Fours’ comprised Keshal Jayasinghe (Bow), Manil Boyagoda (Position 2), Reza Akram, (Position 3) and Muditha. S. Jayasinha (Stroke). With Lashika Weerasinghe ‘coxing’ the boat, the Royalists were coached by Hiran Doranagama.

A rare achievement for a school team, the regatta for the Harry Creasy Trophy is nevertheless a challenging encounter in all aspects of the game. “Generally, participants have to be either winners of the intermediate category at national level or should possess Colombo Rowing Club Colours in order to qualify for the Harry Creasy Trophy for Senior Fours.

What was significant about our participating two teams was that we were granted permission to row taking into consideration our special achievements during the year, and as part of the selection process for the Amateur Rowing Association of the East (ARAE) Regatta, which was supposed to be held in Madras in December, last year,” (which was postponed to late January this year) explained Muditha Jayasinghe, the youngest oarsman of the Royal College winning crew.

Currently the secretary of the Royal College rowing club and a second-year coloursman in rowing, Muditha possesses an illustrious rowing record, emerging as the under 19 winner of the Bolgoda Sculls Championship, the winner of the Centenary Oar Fours and the runner-up of the Gorden Armstrong Sculls in 2005.

Ever since the commencement of his rowing career at the age of 14, Muditha considered being part of the winning team for the Harry Creasy Trophy to be the greatest challenge cum victory. “Although we have undergone vigorous training for the Royal-Thomian regatta, this was a novel experience for us, rowing down a mile for the first time, (expected in senior categories) the longest mileage on the Beira Lake,” said Muditha, adding that as a school team, they were accustomed to an average of 1000 metres.

Even nature seemed to be against these youngsters initially, with a dense layer of algae covering the surface of the Beira Lake, which obstructed training, according to Muditha. “In addition to our opposing seniors from the Colombo Rowing Club being accustomed to the mileage, our other initial drawback was the appalling condition of the lake, which restricted us only to four sessions of practices,” recalled Muditha, of their testing ‘groundwork.’

According to Muditha, only a handful of entries are entertained for the Harry Creasy Trophy. “Very few entries are forwarded each year, as participating oarsmen have to be seniors with experience, and this year they were from the Colombo Rowing Club, the University of Colombo and Royal College.”
According to Muditha, the extensive training required at the Royal-Thomian Regatta contributes to this victory. “In a way we were fortunate that the regatta for the Harry Creasy Trophy was held soon after the Royal-Thomian Regatta, which is a crowd-puller both talent-wise and spirit-wise,” said Muditha stressing that a vigorous training of six days per week for the school regatta was instrumental in boosting their confidence.

“Rowing is not merely a test of physical stamina, but a mental challenge as well. It is a question of how much one is willing to give in, to endure the physical challenges,” he elaborated.

Recalling the win, Keshal Jayasinghe, captain of the Royal College rowing team of last year and a third year coloursman said, “We were ecstatic, since a victory of this nature has a strong impact on a school oarsman, as the contest was for the most-valued club event in rowing and the competition was against national oarsmen. In addition, at the semi-finals, two teams from our school beat the Colombo Rowing Club seniors, and at the finals for the trophy, we rowed against four of our own oarsmen from school, which was indeed another rare occurrence.”

According to Keshal, winning such a coveted event is a turning point in every participant’s rowing career, as it could be a stepping stone in obtaining national status in rowing.

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