By Thihini Piyasena
Turns out, the A.I.S rowing team does not sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’ However they do know how to make a win at the 37th Intermediate and Junior Nationals Rowing Championship.
From the 10th-12th March, 2022 - 12 schools and clubs in the junior category and 7 institutions and clubs registered in the intermediate category to compete and showcase their collective and individual skills, at Diyawanna Rowing Center, Ruwanpura.
How did A.I.S end up there, you ask? Well, it was a bumpy road — or river? No — that makes no sense.
Rowing as a sport already challenges one’s strength and endurance, but in preparation for Nationals, the rowing team had to practice discipline and time management as suggested by their training routine. However, our teachers were aware and well informed of the situation and made time to give the students extra assistance in order to catch up and balance their academic life with rowing.
“It was definitely not easy. I mean we had to get up almost every single day at 4:30 and miss three to four periods of school. And all of us actually got home at around 8:30 in the evening, so having to manage that was quite tough.”
“I mean you want to sleep because you're basically exhausted but at the same time you want to complete all your school work — ‘cause you know, you're in Form 4. We’re in the exam classes and it's not only us, there are Form 2 and Form 3 students who also participated in the event. I think it was tough for them also to keep up and catch up with school work however the teachers were very cooperative and helpful, so I think because of that we were able to manage and complete most of our school work.”
Shaylon Gunaratna
The crew also took it up to themselves to put in the effort to make their tough schedules work and called in notes from friends that were more than willing to help.
Even those long hours of work did not guarantee the absence of mistakes and even the best of the team were victim to a couple of mistakes that didn’t benefit their statistics in the competition.
Including “Catching a Crab” where the term refers to the rower losing control of the oar by not squaring it properly and in turn the blade of the oar gets stuck in the water by the momentum, and the oar handle swings backwards, over the rower’s head.
In terms of the Nationals, the under 18 boys lost quite a few medals. Yet, Shana Abbas would describe the rowing team as a family, and what better than family to put a happy spin to the transition of events?
“Uh, more than a sport, the crew is like there for you and it's like fun to be with your friends. And the crew is like… it's a bit like a big team. And it's fun to hang around with them and do the sport along with. So yeah. They're very close and they like — they don't judge, you can be yourself around them, so it's very comforting.”
Shana Abbas
Overall it seems Nationals was a trial-and-error situation for the rowers, who in total achieved 19 medals, two of which were gold. There was a collective feeling of nervousness and high tension before the races but according to the rowers they felt quite accomplished, and one indicated that they managed to tick personal goals they had for themselves.
They seem quite hopeful for another opportunity to come by. As this year’s championships weeded out issues they would have to work on and confirmed their current capabilities. Therefore
“I think nationals made me want to work hard and also have a bit more like faith in myself. ‘Cause I knew what I was capable of. So it made me want to train more often and put a lot more hard work and stuff like that. I think it also impacted the others because they also saw what they're capable of and what they should fix.”
Shana Abbas
On that note, the rowers wish to make a record of a couple of things. One being, that rowing is more than a sport it’s a whirlwind, and they would recommend rowing for anyone who is up for it. It helps you learn to balance your time, keep you fit, develop discipline and allows you to be a part of a team – which you would be strengthening by giving in the extra muscle and support.
Secondly, the rowers want to thank the school’s sports coordinators, coaches, and senior students in charge for helping them work their course through Nationals — and they request that the bystanders don’t sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ every time they get in the water… but it wouldn’t hurt.
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