Rowing is notorious for being a non-spectator sport. Many people who do not row find the races utterly boring until the last minute or so. It is only when the boats approach the pier that the fervour amongst the crowd begins to rise as their attention is captured by what is happening on the lake; they finally begin to feel the adrenaline rush as they cheer the crews on during the final stages of the race.
Mr. Nirmal Ranasinghe and Mr. Rohan Fernando came to this realisation 25 years ago while discussing the development of rowing in Sri Lanka at a tea auction. Therefore, they decided to introduce a regatta that would give spectators the opportunity to witness races from beginning to end. And so, the ‘Ranfer Sprints’ began. The regatta itself has developed over the years and in 2005 it was extended to include the ‘Ladies’ and ‘Masters’ categories. This regatta stands out from the usual 1000 meter race as it is the shortest distance that crews have to race and is the only regatta at which spectators can view the entirety of a race.
The course is 300 meters long – this requires crews to change their racing strategy. It gives strong oarsmen and oarswomen who may not have the stamina for long distance races a chance to triumph. Like all sprints, there is no time to catch your breath and to ‘sit on’ opponents – Ranfer is won by crews that pump in hard, strong and fast strokes throughout the race.
Any frequent visitor of the rowing club will notice that, closer to this regatta, boats stop disappearing from the clubs view as crews make their way up and down the lake. Instead, many boats start congregating closer to the pier as coaches make their crews sprint up and down from the 300 meter mark to the pier, over and over again.
The Ranfer Sprints is not won by the best oarsmen or oarswomen, but by the best team. Each team has a sculler, a pair, and a four. Each boat has two races – one up from the pier to the 300 meter mark and the other down to the pier. The regatta works on a point system and the team with the highest cumulative points at the end wins the regatta. The athletes train hard to secure themselves a place on their institutions team and then work on their sprints non-stop to ensure that they can give of their best on race day.
This year the crews participating will be the Colombo Rowing Club, University of Moratuwa, University of Colombo, Ladies’ College, St. Thomas’ College, Royal College and Ananda College.
The regatta will be held on Saturday the 31st of May at the Colombo Rowing Club from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Ranfer is one of the most exciting regattas for crews and spectators alike –
Drop by the Colombo Rowing Club this Saturday for the 25th Ranfer Sprints, and be a part of the excitement all the way from the ‘Attention, Row’ to the ‘Easy’. Good luck to all the crews participating and may the best team win!
