Royal Thomian Regatta

Royal-Thomian Regatta
The TN Fernando Trophy. Awarded to the Overall Winner of the Regatta
Sport	Rowing
Timeline	19661 – present
Tournament format	Annual Rowing regatta Side by Side races
Participants	Royal College S. Thomas' College
Current champion	Royal College (50-02) in 2016
Most successful	S. Thomas' 23 Royal 19 Tie 5

The event generally known as Royal Thomian Regatta or The Regatta is the annual rowing race between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia having begun in 1962 as the Royal Thomian Boat Race that evolved into a regatta in 1966 and now is made up of 8 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, with Royal the first school to take up school rowing in the country.

The Boat Race is still regarded as the most prestigious race. The Boat Race is rowed for the Royal Thomian Boat Race Trophy (Also known in the rowing fraternity as the 'Crossed Oars'). 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.

Royal College first began rowing in 1953 as the first school in Ceylon to do so, 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 lengths.

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 8 secs to 3 mins 11 secs.