From 6 a.m. in the morning to 2.30 in the afternoon, oarsmen and oarswomen hung around at the Colombo Rowing Club waiting to have their shot at winning the ‘Head of the Beira’.
As it is an open event the competition was fierce. Each crew had to push themselves to the limit as they rowed two miles as hard as they could under the glaring sun. After 77 races, the results are as follows.
In the men’s category, Shehan Muthugala from the Colombo Rowing Club came in first place. Royal College won the remaining events; Pramod Rajaguru and Heshan Hettigoda won the double scull and the four was won by Praveendra De Costa, Devaka Kumarasinghe, Amrit Fernando, Prathap Perera and Praveen Hapugalla.
The Colombo Rowing Club won the Women’s scull event as well with Samaakhya Gajanayake coming in first place. Ladies’ College took home the other two events with Yellani Rasaputhra and Anoushka Tissera winning the double scull and Isabella Sansoni, Thiranya Fernando, Ishara Abbey, Anika Ahamed and Tehani Walpola winning the four.
This year the rowing club included a two kilometre race for the juniors. This gave the less experienced oarsmen and oarswomen a chance to have a taste of what rowing the Head of the Beira regatta is like. The University of Colombo won two out of three events in the Men’s category with Hemeka Priyanada winning the sculling event and Hemeka Priyanada and Charith Shalintha winning the double scull event. The four was won by Charles Leo, Mubarak Mansoor, Visal Achinttha, Shehan Kannangara and Lakshitha Nupehewage from the University of Moratuwa. In the Women’s category Dihani Amerasinghe from Ladies’ College won the scull. The double scull was won by Thisali Siriwardene and Nethmi Seranajeewa. The University of Moratuwa won the four with M. C. Vidanapathirana, H. G. Ushadini Imega, G. A. G. Senalankadhikadhikara, B. A. S. W. Chandrarathna and H. K. Takshila Roshini Karunarathna.