UoC regain title after 11 years
University of Colombo (UoC) regained the supremacy after 11 years by beating University of Moratuwa (UoM) crew 22-20 at the 37th Inter University regatta concluded at the Colombo Rowing Club premises recently.
UoC oarsmen won the A and B Sculls (A1X, B1X), B- Pair (B2-) and B-Four (B4+) to collect 22 points out of 42 to win the regatta.
When the Fours were starting to row, UoC lads were leading the points table by 14 to 8 and all they had to do was to grab the 8 points of the B Four to seal their victory. UoC B Four displayed one of the best finishes by overtaking the UoM crew in the last 100m of the race to seal the win.
UoC men’s team managed to win the A-pair (A2-) comfortably but in the A-Four (A4+) “The Boat Race” which was the final race of the day ended up in a thrilling finish. UoC crew managed to drag the bow end of the boat in the last stroke over the finish line before UoC, despite the head to head battle all the way down. This was the 13th consecutive time that UoM has won The Boat Race of the regatta.
Both the crews have showcased an intense battle to obtain the title, since both the crews included national level performers in last couple of months.
In Ladies category, UoC ladies team won their title by winning B-Scull (B1X), A and B Pairs (A2-,B2-), and A and B Fours (A4+,B4+) . 36- 6, where the UoC ladies won the A-Scull (A1X)
Jonathan Cruse captained the UoC Men’s crew and UoM Men’s team was captained by Lakshan Dissanayake .
Ridma Wijethunge captained the UoM Women’s team and her counterpart was Sajani Jayakodi.
Architect Dr. Narein Perera (Senior Lecturer of University of Moratuwa, Former Sri Lankan and CH&FC rugby player) was the chief guest of the event. This year’s regatta was organized by the UoC rowing crew.