Royal College has had a rich tradition of producing a number of students who have excelled in sports. One of the driving forces behind these successes is the school’s pro active circle of past students who take it upon themselves to raise the school’s sport to even greater heights.

The school’s sporting dominance has been particularly visible in the field of Aquatic Sport in which they have produced a long queue of swimming, diving and water polo champions over a period of 75 years.
To encourage and fully harness the potential of Aquatic sport in the school it was decided that a swimming pool was an absolute necessity. This need was to be satisfied in 1968 but unfortunately no additional construction around the facility took place for the next three decades.

It was through the efforts of the Royal College Group of ’92 that development of the facility finally began to take shape. They resolved to construct a new spectator stand based on a proposal put forward by the Royal College Union Board of Management of the swimming pool.

In 2002 the Group of ’92 utilizing the wide range of expertise and resources at their disposal officially began construction of this stand. They undertook every aspect of the construction from the designing process to the provision of funds and within a short period of time they successfully achieved their goal.
In addition to the new stand the group also constructed a modern and aesthetic entrance to the swimming pool. The construction undertaken by the Group ’92 was to be completed in three phases, mapped out according to the funds available at the time.

The first phase, which began on August 22, 2003, included the construction of an open terrace and was successfully completed in October of that year. The second phase was to be the construction of an overhead canopy. Construction began in May 2007 and reached completion 4 months later. Work on the final phase, which concerned the construction of the entrance began in December 2008 and ended in June of the following year.

The total cost of the three projects according to an official with knowledge of the matter was approximated to be around Rs six million. As Royal celebrates its 175th anniversary, the Group of ’92 has yet again contributed to the cause of all future royalists by adding another edifice to the school.

The ceremonial opening of the new stand will be conducted by arguably one of the school’s most prestigious sons in the recent past, the Navy Commander, Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, on February 5 (Friday) 2010 at 6.30 pm.
-MSA