Mithil, Oneli and Jaanya of Gateway to represent Sri Lanka
(From left) Rowers Oneli, Mithil and Jaanya
Rising higher from a successful series of performances, three young rowers of Gateway College – Mithil Wickramasinghe, Oneli Chandrasekara and Jaanya Kumaravadu — were selected to represent the country at the forthcoming Asian Junior Rowing Championship to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in October. All three athletes commenced rowing under the direction of Sharen Kannangara and are now coached by experienced coach, Nirmal Gunaratna under whom the rowing crew of Gateway College has expanded in the recent months. The three athletes are currently training under the expert guidance of Sri Lanka’s national Head Coach, Pedro Lopez.
Mithil Wickramasinghe won a gold and silver in his first Junior Nationals in 2021. In the following year, he won two silver medals in Junior Nationals and won a gold and bronze medal at the All-Island Schools Rowing Championships. In May 2022 he was selected to the Junior National team. He also won a bronze medal in the Senior Rowing Nationals in 2022 against Air Force and Army rowing crews as a part of a team with three other boys from the junior national pool. He was appointed as vice-captain of the rowing crew of Gateway in 2022 and was made the captain in 2023.
Oneli Chandrasekara won a gold medal in 2021 in the Under-16 Pairs at the Sri Lanka Junior Championship. She repeated the same achievement in the following year and went on to win a bronze medal for the Under-18 Girls Doubles event. In December 2022, she claimed a bronze medal in the Under-20 Girls Single Scull event at the Schools Rowing Championship. In 2023, Oneli won a silver medal in the Under-18 Girls Single Scull at the School Girls’ Scull event. She has also represented Colombo Rowing Club at the recent Madras-Colombo Regatta, where she won a first place in the Women’s Double Scull event.
Jaanya Kumaravadu is the youngest girl to be selected to represent Sri Lanka at Asian level. She started training for rowing in early 2022. The same year, in December, she was placed second in the Under-14 Girls’ Single Scull at the School Championships. At the National Junior Rowing Championship 2023, she was placed second in the Under-14 Girls’ Single Scull and won first place in Under-14 ‘B’ 4x as the cox. She qualified for the junior national pool with the fastest timing for Girls’ 1000m Ergometre in Sri Lanka.
It is pertinent to state that Gateway College and its Management’s investment in a fleet of boats that include a Wintech Pair Double Scull convertible, three Single Sculls, two Fours that can be converted to Quadruple Sculls, two Pairs that can be converted to Double Sculls, were instrumental for these athletes to achieve the said landmarks.