Colombo Rowing Club defeats Madras Boat Club convincingly

The Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) went head-to-head with the Madras Boat Club, for the annual 83rd Madras-Colombo Rowing Regatta, obtaining a victory against this team on the 3rd of August, 2024, held at the Beira Lake, Colombo. This is the world’s longest international regatta between Sri Lanka and India, which began in 1898, and in which our country has proven to be more dominant, especially with this recent win.

The Colombo Rowing Club was very dominant in the men’s pair races such as the ‘A’ pair race and the ‘B’ pair race. In the former race, Sri Lanka recorded a time of 3.23, while 3.27 was recorded by Madras, a thin margin between the two countries. In the latter race, Sri Lanka dominated with a timing of 3.39 while Madras finished a whole 20 seconds after, with 3.559.

>>Photos – 83rd Colombo-Madras Rowing Regatta 2024<<

In the men’s ‘A’ Scull event, Sri Lanka (4.02) could not manage to beat the timing of Madras, who completed the race with a timing of 3.47 seconds. However, in the men’s ‘B’ Scull event, our rower finished with a timing of 3.34, while the opposition finished with a time of 3.42. Through the different men’s events, the significant victories over the Madras Team brings out the strength of the CRC.

Further, in the Men’s ‘A’ Double Scull, the Colombo Rowing Club beat Madras with a thin margin of 3.01, against their time of 3.07. They also obtained another victory in the Men’s ‘B’ Double Scull with a time of 3.11; while Madras could only manage 3.19.

Consequently, a very impressive race for the Colombo Rowing Club was the Men’s ‘B’ Four, finishing with a timing of 2.59. The Madras Boat Club was defeated, as their timing of 3.04 was inadequate to win them the race.

Similar to the men’s races, the women’s races between the two countries were closely contended too, with significant victories for the Sri Lankans. The Women’s pair race gave a narrow victory to the CRC with a timing of 4.01, while Madras recorded 4.06. Additionally, The Women’s Double Scull was another win for Sri Lanka with a time of 3.52, while Madras recorded 3.57.

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A timing of 4.02 was recorded by the rower of the Women’s Scull, beating the time of 4.11 by Madras. The Women’s Four was also a race where the Madras Boat Club was significantly defeated, as our rowers recorded a time of 3.29, and the opponent finished at 3.37.

Sri Lanka’s CRC promptly defeated the Madras Boat Club in The Boat Race, where in this decisive event, the former was a whole 15 seconds faster, recording a timing of 2.50 (Madras only finishing with a timing of 3.05) It is very clear that the CRC earned their overall win as they outperformed the Madras Boat Club in most of their races, and they also secured the men’s Deepam Trophy and the women’s Adyar Trophy, an improvement from last year as the latter trophy had been won by Madras in 2023.

The decisive victory of the Colombo Rowing Club over the Madras Boat Club brings out the strength and rise of sports in Sri Lanka, as rowing is no easy feat. The men’s crew included Arjun Wikramanayake, Hamza Illyas, Jayden Jayasekara, Kehan Sooriyarachchi, Maliq Hassen, Niduk Batapolaarachchi, Rishen Perera, Saadh Ajmal, Shaylon Gunaratna, Shivendran Goonewardene and Thevinu Weligepolage.

The Women’s crew included Anithra Fernando, Ashenka Sumanapala, Binuri Gunawardena, Hayaa Hassen, Oneli Chandrasekara  and Rovinya Wijesekera.

We applaud all those mentioned above, for their strength, sacrifices and hard work to bring pride to our country.