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History
Royal College Rowing was launched in 1955 and was the 1st School Boy Rowing program in Sri Lanka.
Mr. E.C. Gunesekera was the 1st Master in charge and helped to start Rowing at Royal College and The very 1st Royal College Rowing team consisted of Alavi Mohamed (1st Captain of Rowing), Aru Sellamutu(captain 1965), K. Austin Perera, Ranjit Illasinghe, Varuna Basnayake and the light weights Godwin Perera and Godamune were the 1st coxswains. The 1st Rowing team was guided by Mr. E.C. Gunesekera and Mr. Stevens an Englishman from the Colombo Rowing Club. Subsequently the 1st team rowed against the B team of the Colombo Rowing Club and against the Madras Boat Club team emerging victorious at both occasions, they were awarded colours for Rowing for the 1st time at Royal College by the principal Mr. Dudley de Silva.
Past Masters in Charge - Mr. E.C. Gunesekera
Mr. Rajasooriyar
Mr. Hemachandra
Captains
1962 L.A.W. Sirisena
1963 M.E.Wijesinghe
1964 A.Wickramasinghe
1965 R.Samarasekara
1966 N.N. Dias
1967 O.W.P. Gunasekara
1968 A. Kumarasinghe
1969 A. Wijetunga
1970 P. Fernando
1972 P. Fernando
1973 to 1979 NO REGATTA WAS HELD
1980 N. Phillips
1981 K. Ratnayake
1982 S. De Silva
1983 A. Gunawardena
1984 S. Perera
1985 C. Corea
1986 R. Ghaffoor
1987 N. Samarawickrama
1988 V. Gunawardena
1989 R. Abeysinghe
1990 C. Abhayaratne
1991 C. Perera
1992 C. Gunawardena
1993 D. Gunawardena
1994 D. Jayasinghe
1995 R. Jayasekara
1996 I. Fernando
1997 A. Abhayarantne
1998 S. Tennakoon
1999 K. Abhayaratne
2000 C. Seneviratne
2001 T. Shums
2002 L. Lankaputhra
2003 A. Sulaiman
2004 V. Wickramasinghe
2005 K. Jayasinghe
2006 G. Karunanayake (REGATTA WAS NOT HELD)
2007 M. Aziz
2008 D. Perera
2009 D. Fernando
2010 R. Weerasekera
Colours Criteria
Oarsmen who row the Boat race At the Royal – Thomian Regatta receive colours. Oarsmen who win the Junior four, Senior and Junior pair, Senior and junior double scull and Senior and Junior scull at the Royal – Thomian receive colours.
Royal - Thomian Regatta
Having begun in 1962 'The Regatta' is the 3rd oldest sporting encounter between Royal College and S. Thomas' College. The Overall winner of the Regatta is awarded the T. Noel Fernando Memorial Trophy.
In 1962 the 1st Boat Race was held on the Beira Lake and the Royalist's led by L.A.W. Sirisena beat the Thomians led by C.N. Sirimanne by 1 boat length and were the first holders of the Boat Race Trophy.
In 1966, the 1st Royal Thomian Regatta was held with a line up of 6 events with Coxed Fours, Coxed Pairs and Single Sculls in two categories of Senior and Junior.
Between 1973 and 1979 the regatta was not held due to a dispute between the two schools. The series was revived in 1980 and continues to the present except in 2006 when the regatta was not held.
In 2007 the Royal College led by Maalik Aziz created history by winning all races and winning the Overall Trophy with a margin of 40 points to nil.
In 2008, Senior and Junior Double Sculls were introduced as exhibition events. In 2009 Senior and Junior Double Sculls were awarded 8 and 4 points respectively, with inclusion of the two doubles sculls the overall regatta will be worth 52 points.
All Races are rowed over the distance of 1000 yards.
Event |
Points |
Trophy |
Boat Race |
12 |
Royal Thomian Boat Race Trophy |
Senior Coxless Pairs |
8 |
Freddie Ruax Trophy |
Senior Double Sculls |
8 |
Inaugural Trophy (Sirisena-Sirimanne Trophy) |
Senior Single Sculls |
6 |
Senior Sculls Challenge Trophy |
Junior Coxed Fours |
8 |
Eraj Wijesinghe Trophy |
Junior Coxless Pairs |
4 |
Chula Samarasinghe Challenge Trophy |
Junior Double Sculls |
4 |
Revival Trophy (Phillps- Mohdeen Trophy) |
Junior Single Sculls |
2 |
Ajith Goonawardena Challenge Trophy |
Royal – Thomian Tally
Event |
Trophy |
Royal College |
S' Thomas' College |
Tie |
|
Boat Race |
Boat Race Trophy |
18 |
22 |
|
|
Junior Fours |
Eraj Wijesinghe Trophy |
14 |
15 |
|
|
Senior Pairs |
Freddie Raux Trophy |
14 |
09 |
|
|
Senior Sculls |
Senior Sculls Challenge Trophy |
07 |
11 |
01 |
|
Junior Pairs |
Chula Samarasinghe Challenge Trophy |
08 |
17 |
|
|
Junior Sculls |
Ajith Goonawardena Challenge Trophy |
04 |
08 |
|
|
Senior Double Sculls |
Inaugural Trophy(Sirisena-Sirimanne Trophy) |
00 |
01 |
|
|
Junior Double Sculls |
Revival Trophy (Mohdeen-Phillips Trophy) |
01 |
00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Junior B Fours |
Percy Fernando Memorial Trophy |
04 |
03 |
|
|
Special Achievements
The following are the Royalists who have won the boat race 3 times.
- E R Perera (1968,1969,1970)
- P P Fernando (1969,1970,1972)
- N Samarawickrama (1985,1987,1988)
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