Samaakhya Gajanayake and Nissanka Somaratne will represent Sri Lanka at the FISA Olympic Continental Qualification Regatta for Asian and Oceania. It will take place from the 22nd – the 25th of April at Tangeum Lake Rowing Center in South Korea.
Rowing is a sport that Sri Lankans are yet to prove that they are a dominant force in.
The wheels have started turning towards this process in the last decade with numerous oarsmen and oarswomen going on to compete at the higher echelons of the sport. It has been a slow yet steady buildup to compete at the highest level for the local rowers. The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of the rowing world and any rowers dream to compete in it.
The world governing body of rowing FISA made a request for Sri Lanka to display their talents at the Asian Oceana regatta which is a qualifier for the Rio Games of 2016. The ARASL which is the governing body of rowing in Sri Lanka accepted this request and put many of our local oarsmen and women to the test.
After a keen contest the honors of representing Sri Lankan rowing went to Samaakhya Gajanayake (CRC) and Nissanka Somaratne (Army).
Samaakhya and Nissanka were the leading single scullers securing top spots in the men’s and women’s open sculls at the rowing Nationals held at Diyawanna in 2015 which is over a distance of 2000m, the internationally accepted distance.
To prepare for the qualifiers both scullers underwent a strenuous training regime. During an interview with ThePapare team Samaakhya said that,
“Since we didn’t have much time to prepare we had to do something like a crash course. But we trained very hard with about 8 sessions of training a week. This included water training, running, and gym training starting as early as 5.45am or 6.00am on most days.”
The Sri Lankan coaching team led by Mr. Lakmal Wikramage and assisted by Mr. Kushal Abeyratne have been working around the clock training these two athletes to bring the best out of them. Mr. Kushal Abeyratne is a FISA approved assistant coach which is a great advantage for the two rowers in their build up.
As for the weather conditions in South Korea, Samaakhya and Nissanka would have to brave difficulties which are nothing like what they’ve ever had to endure before as they’re used to rowing in the Sri Lankan climate which is on average around 30 degrees.
Samaahkya also said that,
“For the athletes rowing in Korea it has been a challenge as the temperatures are between 5 and 15 degrees”
It will be a tough competition for Samaakhya and Nissanka as they take on extremely high levels of competition from over 26 countries all vying for the 7 spots that would take them to Rio.
ThePapare team would like to wish Samaakhya and Nissanka the best of luck as they strive to bring glory to the sport and motherland.
