Sports

Sports

Anya and Krishan excel as rowers
By Hopeful Heavyweight
The Colombo Rowing Club recently named its Oarsman and Oarswoman of the year for the 2003/2004 rowing season. The award, which is made to junior institutional rowers who have made the most progress during the year, is awarded once a year at the Colombo Rowing Club's Annual General Meeting.

"The aim of this award is to recognize the progress made by junior rowers during the course of the CRC rowing year," said CRC outgoing Captain Diluk Aluwihare. He stressed that the awards were made to oarsmen and women who had steadily progressed from junior to senior level during the course of the year.

Winning the Oarsman of the Year Award this year is eighteen-year-old Krishan De Silva, last year's captain of the St. Joseph's College Rowing Team. Having rowed for the past six years, Krishan began to make big impressions during the 2003/2004 rowing season. After winning the Wardrop Junior Sculls at the beginning of the year, he later went on to clinch the prestigious Stubbs Quiche Trophy.

In a junior rowing arena predominantly dominated by behemoths S. Thomas' and Royal, it is unusual to see a Josephian take the forefront. Krishan himself sees this as a sign that the Joes are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. "We have already made impressions at the Junior level" says Krishan, who was a member of the crew that clinched the Junior category at the Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals two years ago.

Hoping to make more progress this year, Krishan will row the scull, double scull and four in the Intermediate category this year. "We hope to see St. Joseph's come to the forefront of Junior rowing again," says Krishan who is apparently banking on the strength of the Joes' Under 16 outfit.

Clinching the Oarswoman of the Year Award this year is youngster Anya Ratnayaka who follows in the footsteps of teammate Niroshini Seneviratne to secure the award for Ladies College, for the second consecutive year. Starting her rowing career in 2000, Anya first raised eyebrows at the 2003 Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals where she secured four gold medals spanning both the Intermediate and Junior Categories.

The 2003/2004season proved to be just as fruitful when Anya made early impressions by winning the Cyrian Cup ladies pair event. The fifteen-year-old also stroked her school to a convincing win at the Ladies Plate Senior Fours event last month.

This winning combination will be representing Ladies College at the Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals in August as well. The last few years have seen the emergence of Ladies College as a dominant force in the women's rowing scene in Sri Lanka. "I think we have improved our standings largely due to increased interest in the sport from within the school," says Anya who explains that the LC rowing crew has grown substantially during the past couple of years.

Excelling both in sculling and sweep rowing, Anya hopes to turn heads again at this year's Rowing Nationals where she will represent her school in five events. Rowing, demanding as it is, has managed to keep Anya's interest for the past four years.

"In crew," Anya explains, "you lay it on the line for the person in front of you, and behind you - that sort of continuous sacrifice inspires a sense of bonding which you find nowhere else."

Top