Pedro Lopez to coach Lankan crews
The Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) has recruited Spaniard Pedro Sanz Lopez, as head coach of the national oars teams for a period of one year, with the prime target being winning not just one medal at the Asian Games 2022. A reputed coach with credentials, Lopez comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience as to guide a team to the highest level of achievements with his first assignment being training a young team of six for the upcoming Youth Water Sports Championship 2021, conducted by the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Coorperation or BIMSTEC to be held in Bhopal, India in November.
Rowing head coach Pedro Lopez
An international participant and a medal winner at European and Americas sectors in rowing, Lopez has been into coaching since 2006 and has trained many international athletes including Olympian Anna Boada, Arnaud Buard and Victor Elkholti. His coaching experience ranges from top clubs and national teams in France, Spain and Venezuela at different levels, and his inclusion to Sri Lanka rowing coaching unit brings high hopes of medals, according to ARASL president Dimuth Gunawardena.
“ARASL highly appreciates the assistance provided by the Minister of Sports, the High Performance Programme of National Sports Council and Department of Sports Development of the Ministry of Sports. The farsighted vision of the young and energetic Sports Minister, Namal Rajapaksa, is a great boon for rowing, being an expensive yet wonderful sport in Sri Lanka. We, at ARASL, are highly confident that Sri Lanka would be able to benefit from coach Lopez in our future endervours and quests of winning medals at upcoming international events, with better performances from our oarsmen and oarswomen,” a confident Gunawardena said.
With the additional plan of expanding and popularising rowing throughout Sri Lanka, Lopez will assist ARASL in making the objective a distant reality with a comprehensive plan. Lopez has also set his eyes in introducing rowing among schools in the country, a programme ARASL has been vying to achieve for many years.
“Pedro (Lopez) has been given the complete liberty to exercise his training and coaching methods during his tenure. He has some wonderful ideas and methods which are normally strange to Sri Lanka, but are result-oriented. During his short time with us, he has already proven facts with results. ARASL will provide him the fullest assistance with the sole ambition of improving the standards of our athletes and equipment on par with international level,” stated Sithira Wickramasekera, the vice president of ARASL.
Local coaches Rifath Mohamed and Lahiru Herath will work under Lopez during his tenure with Sri Lanka.