Newly crowned Senior Rowing Nationals crown contenders Ladies , eye a superlative finish to their impressive run for the calendar year 2015 and would look to retain the silverware they have won in the past years; the Hannings trophy and the school nationals title.
Rowing has been a passion among the Ladies fraternity since 1998 when for the first time a contingent of Ladies oarswomen took the waters of Beira. There had been earlier instances where several LC’ites rowed for the Colombo Rowing Club but this was the first occasion where Ladies College as a team rowed in the Beira Waters. Since then Ladies College has been the undisputed force in the schools rowing arena contributing several rowers to the national grid.
The Ladies who rowed under the captaincy of Anoushka Tissera last year had a glorious run where ended up winners in the LC-MC regatta holding on to the Hannings trophy for the fifth successive time defeating Musaeus College 48-4. This was after the Ladies massacred their counterparts in 2013 with a 52-0 whitewash. Winning became an everyday habit for the Ladies last year as they ended their season run on a high note winning the Schools National title.
Tarea Karunaratna was passed on the baton from Anoushka Tissera as she took on the reigns of captain of the Ladies College rowing team carrying forward the track record set by her predecessors. The Ladies participated in four regattas for the 2015 season prior to going in to the Senior Nationals. The senior nationals was a domination by the LC’ites in the under 18 category with both first and second places of the Under 18 scull going to Ishara Abbey and Taarea Karunaratna respectively. Ladies College was adjudged overall winners and was awarded the Flipper trophy.
Captain Tarea Karunaratna’s Ladies rowing outfit is a compilation of mainly expertise talent while the freshers blend in with the seniority. With 12 crew members already being a part of last year’s team remaining in the side, the Ladies rowing crew is a monumental structure of talent; something that no other crew in the country posses.
Ishara Abbey of Ladies College has been a familar name in the rowing spectrum of the country being an active contributor to the waters of Beira for over four years. Ishara’s has been the Ladies scull oarswoman from a very long time and she has been able to be the best in such a capacity. The nationals that was concluded last week saw her winning gold in the scull justifying her top spot.
Her two deputy’s Tehani Walpola and Yellani Rasaputhra will be her key strengths when it comes to the fours and pairs aiding Tarea. Preparations have been steady for the crew in the past few weeks for the last stretch of the regattas and according to deputy skipper Yellani, the rowing crew of Ladies are confident of another victory coming their way this LC MC Regatta.
The Ladies rowers are flying high courtesy of their ever-reliable coach Shehan Kannangara. A product of S. Thomas’ College, Shehan was a part of the Thomian rowing crew till 2002 and later took up coaching in 2003. Since then he has taken on several assignments with the University of Moratuwa and SLIIT prior to joining with the Ladies. Shehan takes credit on being a Level 2 FISA qualified coach that is under the International Rowing Body.
With expectation yielding high, Ladies College are expected to retain their top stance in the rowing arena while retaining the Hannings trophy for the LC MC Regatta.
