It was all awe at the Diyawanna waters
View(s):By Sonja Candappa
The 28th Sri Lanka National Rowing Championships, which was on show at the waters of the Diyawanna Oya last weekend brilliantly depicted Sri Lanka’s talent in the rowing arena, with participants of all ages doing battle in categories ranging from the main Open Category to the Over 18 and Under 18 categories.
The Open Category saw some incredible races especially in the men’s single sculls event, where Sri Lanka’s two best oarsmen, Sajeev de Siva and Shehan Muthugala, went head-to-head in a thrilling race which Sajeev claimed. They then teamed up for the men’s double sculls event where they had a combatable win over their competitors.
It is also interesting to note that the Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists, Ishika de Silva, Samaakya Gajanayaka and Janethri Marapana, of the women’s singles skull event were all under 19 years of age.
The Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) emerged champions in both the men’s and women’s categories making them the overall champions of the most prestigious event in the rowing calendar.
Speaking to the Sunday Times about their exhilarating triumph at the regatta, the captain of CRC, Maheel Gamage, said, “It’s an amazing feeling to have won both the men’s and women’s open. The crew has been training hard all season and at the end it was the team effort that made us the champs. All credit should go to Sajeev de Silva and Shehan Muthugala from the men’s crew and Ishika de Silva, Subashini Kularathna and Samaakyah Gajanayaka from the women’s crew for winning all their events.”
The over 18 category saw some spectacular rowing from the Sri Lankan forces with the Sri Lanka Navy crew emerging champions.
The Under 18 Category saw the crews of S. Thomas’, Royal, Ananda and St. Joseph’s battle for the men’s trophy and the girls of Ladies College, Musaeus College, Bishop’s College and Visakha Vidyalaya race their hearts out for the women’s trophy. However, it was Ishan Perera and his crew from Royal that triumphed in the men’s category, securing wins in almost all their events, while Ashani Welikala and her girls from Ladies College reigned in the women’s category, giving the spectators a great show, with their heart-stopping ‘take her home’ which bought them from second to first place in the women’s coxed fours event, which ultimately helped them clinch their title.
This year’s regatta also witnessed some exceptional performances in the single sculls events in all the age categories. Sajeev de Silva beat his own timing for the double sculls (always thought to be the fastest boats) in his single scull race this year. Samaakyah Gajanayaka, who represented CRC and Visakha Vidyalaya, won the under 18 women’s single sculls event, the schoolgirl sculler event and even got a silver medal for the open women’s single sculls race. Aaron John from St. Joseph’s College won both the Schoolboy sculler event as well as the Under 18 men’s single sculls race.
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