Windsurfing all the way
by Nilma Dole
 The Gunawardena family hailing
from the coastal town of Aluthgama have windsurfing blood running
through their veins. They have produced windsurfing champions
consistently and are keen on putting Sri Lanka firmly on the map for the
world windsurfing championships.
Thushal Gunawardena, the master windsurfer of the family spoke to the
Sunday Observer magazine about how their affair with windsurfing began.
“My father was a fisherman and we were taught how to swim and be
familiar with the sea from the time we were young” he said. Thushal, who
was Sri Lanka’s windsurfing champion in 1988, said, “I learned much
about windsurfing from my elder brother Upali who is now in Italy and
runs his own windsurfing school there.” Eventually, Thushal said that
during his peak period, when he could have done better internationally,
he couldn’t do it without the support and help from sponsors. “Today, I
own and manage a successful windsurfing school and I give back as much
as I can to the community by teaching the youth.
At the moment, Thushal’s nephew Chameera is Sri Lanka’s windsurfing
champion and has even been placed 10th in the Asian Beach Games in Bali
at his debut. Having taken part in the Asian Sailing Games and many more
international water sports events Chameera, who is a student at Royal
College Panadura, looks ready to take on the international platform in
windsurfing being just 17 years old! Thushal has 7 siblings, windsurfer
Anura who is Chameera’s father, Upali, wind surfer Priyanka, Windsurfer
Deepa, Ranji, Rani.
“After the peace, tourism will boom and I hope that not only
foreigners take windsurfing classes here but Sri Lankans too” he
said.Thushal explained, “Sri Lankan women are so concerned about getting
dark that most of them who live on the coast don’t even know how to
swim.
 Hence, my advice to all is to learn how to swim and I give classes
for that and other water sports.” The advice he gives to possible
windsurfers is, “Never do it if you don’t have the experience, never do
it alone and have a supervisor at all times and check with the local
authorities to see if the weather and sea current conditions are right
to windsurf. The new trend is to go kite-surfing but do it at approved
centres because it takes a great deal of skill and expertise to do it.
“In the future, I see Sri Lanka not just a destination for offering
water sports for tourism but for Sri Lankans interested in doing water
sports for life and getting international recognition” concluded Thushal.
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