Musaeus triumph over Ladies’ at 14th annual regatta

The proud oarswomen of Musaeus

The 14th Annual Ladies College-Musaeus College Regatta was won by Musaeus College, who claimed the Marie Musaeus Trophy yet again, painting the Beira blue and yellow on 7 October at the Colombo Rowing Club.

Fighting a battle to stay on top is more difficult than the journey to get there, but Musaeus College was determined to retain their trophy one more time as they were unwilling to leave without the sweet taste of victory.

A crew of 20, comprising captain Senuri de Silva, vice captain Maedhini de Alwis , secretary Mayanthi Weerakoon, Ranuli Wickramasekera, Binali de Alwis, Lishadi Mayadunna, Thanushi Perera, Randini de Silva, Ishanka Hewakuruppu and Dinara Fernando as 10 experienced seniors who have rowed for the LC-MC regatta during the previous years and Hashini Hettigoda, Binuri Gunawardhena, Nethmini Sirimanne, Dinuri Guneratne, Miyushi Dharmarathne, Thamadansi Hewage debuting along with Kinaara Malawana, Sineli de Silva, Nethra Jayasekera and Hasaru Kodithuwakku, set out to row their hearts out to victory.

Training for over 10 months, with the bar of expectation set higher than ever before, the rowing team of Musaeus College was able to convert the bitter pain of sacrifice into the sweet taste of victory. Emerging runners-up to Ladies College at the 32nd Senior Nationals, Musaeus turned it all around on 7 October, winning the most prestigious regatta held between two girls’ schools with a margin of just two points,

Musaeus won a total of six events out of 10 after a well-fought battle against strong competition from Ladies’ College, resulting in a final score of 27-25.

Achieving a new record breaking time of four minutes and two seconds, Musaeus managed to cut off three seconds from the previous record, winning the ‘A’ Pair which carries the second highest score of eight points.

Coached by Mark Maurice and Anuradha Nadaraja, this team will go down in history as the first Musaeus crew to have won the LC-MC for the second consecutive year.

Over a journey of one year, lessons were learnt for a lifetime, having experienced a million emotions compressed within a few minutes, fighting till the very end, breaking barriers to reach beyond their capabilities, achieving the vision they desire to climb to the peak of their dreams to hold the Marie Musaeus Higgings Trophy up high once again.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen,” were the words their coach would say to the team. Passion is what makes life interesting, what ignites our soul, stimulates our intellect and pushes our limits and in a team, together everyone achieves more. With undying faith and a mind of steel, they proved to row with passion and heart to make their dream a reality.