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Ladies meet Musaeus in Inaugural Regatta
By Mahangu Weerasinghe
The best in Sri Lanka Women's rowing will meet next Saturday when Ladies College and Musaeus College pit their crews against each other in their first annual Regatta.

Although the rival schools have met at the Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals for many years, this is the first time that they will clash in exclusive head-on competition. This regatta is seen as one of the first serious attempts to a set a standard for women's rowing in Sri Lanka.

Talking about the significance of the event, Coach of Musaeus College Mr. Ajith Goonewardena linked the event to the Annual Royal Thomian Regatta. "Much of what men's rowing is in Sri Lanka today, is because of the Royal-Thomian, and we hope that this new annual encounter will give ladies rowing the shot in the arm it needs," said the Coach.

Coach of Ladies College, Mr. Chanaka Talpehewa said that the regatta was a 'long felt need' and asserted that the standard of women's rowing would increase immensely as a result of this event.

Both crews come in to this regatta straight out of training for the recently concluded Sri Lanka Nationals and thus both are expected to row exceptionally well. It is indicated that good performances by the ladies at this event could tilt the national body to take the genre more seriously, and perhaps even create a national pool for women alongside their male counterparts.

The events and points will be modelled after the traditional Annual Royal-Thomian Regatta and will go down in the following manner - Senior Fours 12, Junior Fours 8, Senior Pairs 8, Junior Pairs 4, Senior Sculls 6, Junior Sculls 2.

The Principal of Musaeus College, Mrs. N. Pilapitiya will be the chief guest and the event will be supported by long time rowing sponsor Dialog GSM.

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