“The only way of finding the limits of the possible, is by going beyond them into the impossible”, team Mora is ready to pass their limits in the boat this season of rowing. They are the team with direct access to the waters of Bolgoda, yet time to time they prove themselves to be the head of Beira too.
Men’s
The men’s team is led by Visal Thennakoon for the year 2015. He is a veteran among the rowing community and one of the best the Mora team has got in the recent past. He has showcased his talents and proved that he could still win races both in local and international waters in club races and world university games, against teams with years and years of practice. He partners the pair with Charles Leo, the favourite pair at the Madras-Colombo, Karachchi-Colombo and ARAE regattas last year.
The team also consists of a lot of blooming oarsmen as Achintha Ihalage, Mohamed Mubarak and Sisuru Senarathna who have expressed their talent at the recent regattas and have been selected to represent the university at the World University Games to be held in Korea this year.
Women’s
Just as the men’s team, the Mora ladies are equally competitive in the boat. They were the Champions of the over 18 category at the 29th Rowing nationals, 2014. This star team is led by Sasanda Chandrarathna and vice-captain Amandra Senalankadhikara, they are the seniors in team filled with fresh and enthusiastic oarswomen. The captain has grabbed several gold medals at Head of Beira, Inter university games, Rowing nationals and Indoor rowing nationals with a lot of experience to train the newbies. The women’s team has also been selected to participate at the world university games with the men’s team.
In Sasanda’s words, they are dedicated to rowing and are going to be a challenge to everyone at the open and over 18 categories at the Rowing National Championships.
Pillars of Support
Moratuwa rowing team is standing strong by their pillars of support, the team of coaches, Old Mora and the university sports council. The team is being trained by Chamal Jayanetti and Thiran Sellahewa. The two coaches who are continuing their support for the team to achieve the heights they’ve reached and to target even further. The trio of coaches is completed with Shane de Silva, the fitness coach with a special interest to keep the team fit both physically and mentally at all time.
Old Mora is a special backup by the past oarsmen/women from the university team, who have never failed to support the team in all levels. They have dedicated themselves even after leaving the university, to strategically support the team to sustain the front line ranking at all time.
In Chamal Jayanetti’s words, “This is a highly self-driven team who make my work much easier in comparison to other teams. Our main target for this year is the Rowing Nationals, at the same an aim for whitewash for both men’s and women’s teams at the inter-university games.” He also mentioned a special note of credit to Old-Mora and Maheel Gamage for their continuous support.
