Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Making waves
Vidushi Seneviratne talks to two young oarsmen about their passion for rowing
The evening sun blazed down on the tranquil waters of the Beira Lake, instantly taking your mind off the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city. Walking through the lengthy, wooden- floored corridors of the Colombo Rowing Club, the stillness of the surroundings made it hard to imagine just how much action this venue accommodates. As a few young oarsmen (and women) sat on the grass awaiting their turn in the water, others were already rowing far out into the lake.

Here to meet two of the young Silver medallists at the recently concluded 9th SAF Games held in Islamabad, Pakistan, I was greeted with the sight of an almost equal number of girls and guys, confirming the growing interest in the game. For Dejan de Zoysa (18) and Isuru Perera (18), both present students of S. Thomas’ College, representing Sri Lanka in the SAF Games, it had been a truly fulfilling experience.

“The experience gained during a tour such as this is amazing. Meeting so many other participants, from other countries is quite interesting, while the challenges you have to encounter and take on, will be a definite help for the future of the sport,” said Dejan, explaining the positive aspects of such international representation. First getting involved with rowing in 2001, he said that it was through College and his seniors that the interest for the sport initially began. He is presently captain of the S. Thomas’ College rowing team.

“Getting into rowing was a gradual process for me as well, and it was mainly seeing the impressive performance of the seniors at College, that got me interested,” said Isuru, who was incidentally last year’s captain of the STC rowing team. He first got involved in the sport in 2000. Isuru went on to say that he felt representing the country boosted their confidence and won them respect and regard. “Especially from your peers and siblings!” he added smiling.

The SAF Games this year was not the first time that both he and Dejan participated at international events for rowing, having done so before at the Junior Asian Rowing Championships in November 2003 (Hong Kong) and the Hong Kong Rowing Championships in 2000 and 2002, representing S. Thomas’ College.

The Sri Lankan rowing team went onto bag Silver in both the Heavy Weight Open Double Sculls as well as the Light Weight Fours, and Bronze in the Open Fours event subsequently in Islamabad. While Dejan was one of the team members in the Light Weight Fours, Isuru was a member of the team for the Open Fours event. They both made up the team for the Open Double Sculls.

“We had the most amount of competition from the members of the Pakistan rowing team, since they were all experienced and mature participants, mostly from the Forces. Going against them was a good experience for us,” commented Isuru.

“Although there are certain events in which added to the oarsmen, there is a Cox as well, all of the three events that we participated in at the SAF Games were minus the Cox,” said Dejan, going on to explain that a Cox was the member of the team who steers, directs and encourages the oarsmen, during the race. In an event without the Cox, the oarsmen have to row, steer and direct, and the boats for such events are smaller than those used for events with a Cox.

Speaking of the setbacks faced in Sri Lanka, the lack of resources seemed to be the most telling. “Having a 2km course to race is ideal, but we have only a 1600 metre course. Our straight course is only 1000 metres,” said Isuru, going on to explain that since all the rowing clubs presently come to the Colombo Rowing Club to train, having more boats too, would be useful. Since the national crew has just two boats to use for training, developing the resources at the Rowing Club is an obvious necessity.

“Right now, we have six men’s clubs and four women’s clubs coming in for training at the Rowing Club, so we work it out according to a roster,” added Dejan. According to these oarsmen, Bolgoda has been identified as a prospective venue where the arena of Sri Lankan rowing would see some development. While a 2km course can be prepared there, a significant amount of development is necessary so that the rowing events in the next SAF Games, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka can be accommodated.

Rowing was introduced to the SAF Games this year and our team made an impact with an impressive performance. Twelve oarsmen made it into the Sri Lankan contingent for the SAF Games this year, and were in Pakistan from March 25 to April 5. While Chanaka Talpehewa captained the rowing team, Lakmal Wickremage and Deva Henry were coach and manager, respectively.

As for future plans, Isuru hopes to continue rowing, even once he leaves school. “Most of the guys who row for College, usually go onto join the Rowing Club. I guess I’ll be doing that as well, and will row for the Club in future. Of course finding a job is also one on my ‘future plans’ list!”

Dejan on the other hand, interestingly plans on quitting rowing this year, and when asked if studies would be taking precedence, he replies with a firm, “No”. “I won’t be pursuing higher studies. I just plan to hang around, marry and have lots of kids!”

The duo were united in their thanks to the Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka for the opportunity given and their support of Sri Lankan rowing.

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