Rowing has been 'killed'

Pavilion View by Leslie Fernando

Rowing has been killed. This may sound terrible to some, but former rower Ajith Gunawardena who represented S. Thomas', Sri Lanka and who coaches his old school S. Thomas' and Musaeus College, was adamant that the sport has gone down and he hoped that some knowledgeable person takes charge to lift the sport to its glorious past.

Ajith has done well to build up the Thomians to be a fighting unit and has also done well to bring up the Musaeus College team to be the best among the women rowers in the country.

He said that the ARASL should establish a rowing faculty and provide boats of superior design ranging from German, British, Chinese and Indian origins to help develop better styles.

The performances by our competitors at the 10th South Asian Games and the Asian Games were below standard.

The rowers must be trained and guided their paces by experienced and knowledgeable coach and there should be rowing pools with all facilities provided.

Get own headquarters

There is one reason why rowing in the country is not progressing satisfactorily. The ARASL officials are more keen in keeping their positions. They should discord this attitude and be more dedicated and show greater responsibility in promoting the sport.

It's high time that the Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) has a home of their own, (headquarters), boat yard, rowing centre in Colombo as well as in the principal outstation towns said Rohan Fernando, former Thomian and National oarsmen who has held the past of President, Colombo Rowing Club and President of ARASL for three terms.

Rohan who started rowing in 1973, said that he loved rowing and continued to row because it was part of his life. He has represented Sri Lanka at several international regattas.

The Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka does not have a 'home' of their own but operates from Colombo Rowing Club. All meetings and the National Regatta are held at the CRC without any charges being levied, but this is not a very happy situation.

Rohan Fernando said that rowing centres should be opened in Bolgoda, Diyatalawa and even down South. Sri Lanka being a country where water is found everywhere, there is no reason why rowing centres cannot be opened elsewhere.

The controlling body - the ARASL has been responsible for training of teams for contests abroad. Besides the rowing centres, there should be plans to build boatyards so that boats can be manufactured here.

Many boats necessary

Only a handful of schools and clubs have boats if their own. If rowing is to be done seriously here in Sri Lanka, all clubs and schools that participate in the sport, must have their own boats and then they will be able to practice regularly and be ready for international competition. This was the opinion of a rowing stalwart of the past - Lloyd Sirimanne, who has rowed for his school - S. Thomas' and also for Sri Lanka.

He said that at the moment only a handful of school have boats of their own and this is somewhat of a drawback for the sport. The rowers are not able to practice regularly and tune up for competition.

Besides rowing, Sirimanne has also been coach for the national team besides being coach of S. Thomas', University of Colombo and Ladies College.

Rowing, like many other sports, was introduced to the country during the colonial era and was dominated by the British until the 1950s. For reasons best known to them, the Britishers did not propagate the sport in the island unlike cricket or rugby football.

This is a sport that can be spread throughout the country as there are many waterways and if the equipment can be made available, then the sport can be taken to the outstation towns.

Rowing catches on

Rowing in Sri Lanka has caught on and the oarsmen have reached a fairly high standard with their constant participation in international competitions. This was the opinion of Nihal Silva - twice President of ARASL, the youngest President of CRC and first schoolboy to become a member of the Colombo Rowing Club.

The Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) was formed in 1964 for the purpose of fostering and it has now become a very effective organisation. In the early stages there were rowers like A. Perera, late Alavi Mohamed, Priya David, Varuna Basnayake, Dr. J. B. C. de Silva, L. A. W. Sirisena. In the early days, the rowers did not have much exposure against foreign competition, but to the credit of the locals, it must be mentioned that they won the annual Madras - Colombo regatta six times in-a-row.

Nihal who coached Royal team between 1960 -1962, said that the other countries are fast forging away as they have applied a little professionalism to the sport.

Standards improve

Rowing in Sri Lanka has seen continuous growth and standards too have improved. This is the view of Gerry Silva - a former Josephian sportsman who was a star-class rower for Colombo Rowing Club in the late 1950s.

Sri Lanka's rowers have won laurels at the South Asian Games and also did well at the Asian Games in Doha, Quatar.

Sri Lanka will do well to form a national rowing squad consisting of men and woman and get foreign coach to train them.

Gerry, a former President of Nuwara-Eliya Rowing and Yacht Club, said that he was a self taught rower and hard training brought him to the top. In the good old days, Sri Lanka had good oarsmen like Waruna Basnayake, Deva Henry, Rohan Fernando, Ajith Goonawardenena, Lloyd and Neville Sirimanne. The last named - Neville Sirimanne did the country proud when he beat Indian sculler T. Badradi at several Madras - Colombo Regatta.

Sri Lanka should explore the possibility of getting a foreign coach to train our rowers and this could be done if the ARASL taps FISA - the world controlling body for rowing.

Physical fitness is a prime need for rowers as it demands endurance, strength, balance, mental discipline and have the ability to continue when the body demands to stop.