Royal Thomian Regatta

Infobox SL Interschool Tournaments
Tournament name = Royal-Thomian Regatta

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Caption1 = The TN Fernando Trophy. Awarded to the Overall Winner of the Regatta


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Sport = Rowing
Organizers =
Timeline = 1966¹ – present
Tournament format = Annual Rowing regatta
Side by Side races
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Entrants =
Teams participated =
Winner = Royal College (40 - 00)
Most wins = S. Thomas' 17
Royal 14
Tie 3
Biggest win = Royal 40 -00 (2007)
Consecutive wins =
Footnotes =¹ Between 1973 and 1980 the regatta was not held due to despute between the two schools and in 2006 the regatta was not held.Infobox SL Interschool Tournaments
Tournament name = Royal-Thomian Boat Race


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Event Type = Coxed Fours
Timeline = 1962¹ – present
Winner = Royal College
Most wins = S. Thomas' 20
Royal 18
Consecutive wins = S. Thomas' 4 wins
Footnotes =The Royal Thomian Boat Race is the annual rowing race between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia having begun in 1962 this event evolved in to the Royal Thomian Regatta or The Regatta in 1966 and now is made up of 6 events.The races are rowed over a distance of 1000 yards and take place on the Beira Lake in Colombo. The regatta takes place in the month of October and is usually held on the last Saturday of the month at the Colombo Rowing Club. The Royal Thomian Regatta is the oldest inter-school rowing regatta in Sri Lanka.

The Boat Race is still regarded as the most prestigious race. The Boat Race is rowed for the Royal Thomian Boat Race Trophy. The Overall winner of the Regatta is awarded the T. Noel Fernando Memorial Trophy.

Having begun in 1962 'The Regatta' is the 3rd oldest sporting encounter between Royal College and S. Thomas' College, after the Battle of the Blues Cricket Encounter and Rugby Encounter.

=History=Royal College first began rowing in 1955, the first Captain was Alavi Mohomed. S. Thomas' College began rowing a few years later.

In the years to follow the idea of a race between the two schools was agreed upon and 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.S. Thomas won their first Boat Race in 1964 beating Royal by 3 lenghts.

In 1966, the 1st Royal Thomian Regatta was held with a line up of 6 events. Coxed Fours, Coxed Pairs, Single Sculls in two categories 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. Royal College created new record timings for most events including lowering the Boat Race Trophy record by 7 secs to 3 mins 12 secs.|Sunday Observer 28/10/2008 http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/10/28/spo03.asp]

Race Format

All Races are rowed over the distance of 1000 yards.

Each event has specific number of points allotted towards it the aggregate points is equal 40 points, the winner of the each event/race receives these points and at the end of the regatta the school with the highest aggregate of points will be declared the Overall Winner and be the holders of the T. Noel Fernando Trophy.

Records

Boat Race

*Royal :18
*S. Thomas :20

* denotes series record

:Won 3 or more Boat RacesS. Thomas'
*C H L Sirimanne 1965,1966,1967
*I Perera 2002,2003,2004
*D De Zoysa 2002,2003,2004
*D Aluwihare 2003,2004,2005

Royal
*E R Perera 1968,1969,1970
*P P Fernando 1969,1970,1972
*N Samarawickrama 1985,1987,1988

Also see

*Royal College, Colombo
*S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia
*Royal-Thomian

Notes and references