The 73rd Annual FEARA/ARAE International Regatta concluded at the Colombo Rowing Club today with the College of Military Engineering Rowing Club and the Colombo Rowing Club taking the overall ARAE Men’s and Women’s categories respectively.
Three days of intense races between participants from five different nations wound up today as the final races were held across a number of categories. The hosts Colombo Rowing Club suffered a setback at the start of the day due to some miscommunication with the other crews, resulting in them having to forfeit the lesser position in every race that they had two crews competing in. This didn’t affect them in the ladies category however, as they swept the ARAE women’s races claiming gold medals in all four races under that category and winning the overall trophy with 38 points. The Karachi Rowing Club from Pakistan came in second place with 18 points while College of Engineering Pune from India placed third with 11 points.
The ARAE Mens category was a much closer affair but the hosts could not match up to the crew from the College of Military engineering (CME) Rowing Club, who won the Pairs through Sharma Himanshu and Ali Ashraf, while also claiming Gold in the double sculls event through Singh Ashutosh and Waldia Navender Singhe. Colombo Rowing Club won the fours event but their sculler Aaron John was beaten by Omkar Jadhar from College of Engineering Pune, allowing CME to claim the Men’s overall title with 36 points leaving the hosts having to be content with 29 points and second place.
The FEARA Masters category for senior oarsmen brought an entirely new set of contenders for the top spots as it was a close contest between the Karachi Boat Club, the Bengal Rowing Club and Lake Club Limited. Bengal Rowing Club won both the Scull and Double Scull events while Karachi Boat Club won the Fours and Lake Club Limited took gold in the Pairs. Lake Club also managed to bag two silvers and a bronze however, which meant that they beat the Bengal Rowing Club by 4 points to claim the overall trophy.
The FEARA Super Masters category consisted of only a double sculls event where Dubai beat Lake Club Limited to claim gold, while in the boys under 14 category Bengal Rowing Club won both the Sculls and Double Sculls event.
The absence of the Madras Boat Club was notable especially as this regatta coincided with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Colombo Rowing Club, who have had a long standing relationship with the MBC. Their absence did not detract too much form the event however as the other clubs showcased some notable performances over the last three days, highlighting the scope of growth available to the sport both here and internationally.
ARAE Womens
ARAE Mens
