The opening regatta of the Colombo Rowing club was held last Saturday at the Beire Lake signifying the start of the Rowing calendar of the Club.
The event mainly consisted of junior events to help the junior oarsmen/oarswomen gain experience while it is also a stepping stone for the season’s upcoming Club regattas. The regatta which saw the participation of 80 athletes participating in 7 events held rowing a 1000m distance apart from Head of the Beira races (HOB) which were 2 mile races. The Head of the Beira requires endurance than the usual 1000m race because, its full race distance is 2 miles (3.2Km), having the athletes push themselves to the edge.
The University of Moratuwa 1x won the HEAD OF THE BEIRA – MENS 4+ category while, Musaeus College Colombo won the Women’s category. HEAD OF THE BEIRA – MENS SCULL was won by A.M. Mubarak while Samaakya Gajanayake won the Women’s title. Yellani Rasaputhra and Nihara Warawita of the Ladies College clinched the Women’s 2x while Lasaru Kudaligama and Kavin Rajapaksha clinched the Men’s Head of the Beire 2x.
The Secretaries Bowl Double was won by Janisha Rathnayake and Ovini Paranagama of Ladies College and the Vanlangenberg double was won by Thimesha Amarasena and Lasindu Gamage of Royal College. Davina Koch of Ladies College walked away with the Junior women’s Skull award HMS 4+ was awarded to the mixed institutions four consisting of Kavinda Mathew,Poorna Vithanage, Hashen Weerakody, Jehan Fernando and Ishira Rambukwella. The historic Gordon Armstrong award was won by Royal College oarsman, Praveen Weerakody.
With the finish of this event, the waters of the Beire are now open for yet another exiting year of Rowing as Clubs and schools row out for supremacy on the Beire.
