24 Dec
(CONTINUED FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY)
EVEN then, the traditional rite was practised whenever the club conducted the regatta on the Inya Lake. The committee of the University Regatta used to hold the ceremony of "Saluting the Nats" (propitiating the spirits) at the opening of the Regatta. The fruits and flowers were distributed on the water to propitiate the Nats (spiritual beings) believed to be residing around the Lake in the traditional manner before a race in laungs. From 1927 onwards, occasional inter- college boat races were held for various teams belonged to colleges of Yangon. In 1939, Rangoon University Boat Club rowing team started to compete with English Boat Club rowing team with English racing boats. Sometimes, Burmese laungs (မြန်မာလောင်းလှေများ) were used in competing with English racing boats.
In 1945 and in 1946 (post second world war) , the writer Let-WaiMin –Nyo (စာရေးဆရာလက်ဝဲမင်းညို), U Chan Tha (ဦးချမ်းသာ) (ICS) and Commodore U Than Pe (ဦးသန်းဖေ) (Naval) had re-established the club in order to develop rowing sport among the university students . They also expected to bring about the vigorous male and female University students from the Yangon Universities’ Boat Club.
In 1980s, YUBC teams had won the National Championship in local regattas. Most of the brilliant rowers (both male and female) are selected for National Rowing Team (Myanmar Selected Rowing Teams) to meet the regattas in foreign countries especially in ASEAN member countries or invited boat races abroad.
Since the Yangon University Boat Club’s foundation in 1923, the rowing teams of the Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams have gained triumphs in the invited Boat Races in Asia in 1970s and 1980s. During those years, Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams have been invited to participate in F.E.A.R.A (Far Eastern amateur Rowing association) as Yangon Universities’ Boat Club became a member club in 1981.Then it has been allowed to participate in AUG (ASEAN University Games).
Yangon Universities’ Boat Club rowing teams had won the gold medals, silver medals and bronze medals in the regatta held in Singapore in October, 1979 for different classes of rowing races. Also, in 1981, RUBC rowing teams had won the gold medals and silver medals for different rowing events significantly in Hong Kong conducted by (F.E.A.R.A — Far Eastern amateur Rowing association).
YUBC teams had won the higher prizes in 1982 Regatta conducted by (F.E.A.R.A — Far Eastern amateur Rowing association) in Manila, the Philippines.
The triumphs of Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams in the years 2000s are as follows;
In 2016, Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams had taken part in Varsity Boat Race (VBR) in Malaysia and won some outstanding prizes on different fixtures of the boat races.
2018 Varsity Boat Race (VBR) held in October, Penang, Malaysia
Yangon Universities’ Boat Club’s men and women rowing teams won the gold medals (first prize), silver medals (second prize) and bronze medals (third prize) in the different category of events competed with foreign boat club teams.
Remark.
The Celebrations of the 40th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 1963; the 50th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 1973; the 60th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 1983; the 75th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 1998; the 80th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 2003; the 90th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 2013 respectively. N.B. Rangoon University Boat Club was renamed Yangon Universities ‘Boat Club in 1964 to date.
Up till now, Yangon University Boat club has been striving for the development of the club and members by giving training and buying modern race-boats in order that the rowing teams can participate in boat races in foreign countries especially in South East Asia. Evidently, YUBC teams have participated in boat races in Asian countries. Occasionally, inter-colleges boat races are also held. Basic rowing training is given to the University students those who are rowing enthusiasts. In addition, the modern rowing boats are being used for the YUBC for the crew members in order to cope with the usage of standard rowing boats in the world regatta. Thus, YUBC has been receiving the increasing number of members from various Universities of Yangon who are of boat rowing enthusiasts.
N.B Excellent Yangon Universities’ Boat Club members are from respective Universities and colleges in Yangon. For example, the excellent rowers from Yangon from Economics University are selected for participating in the invited boat races in Asia countries. Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams, made up of excellent members from respective Universities in Yangon, are prepared for Asian University Games.
The winning results in international rowing races participated by Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams are rather encouraging due to assiduous efforts, well- disciplined and harmonious teamwork of the members. In other words, the RUBC members of both man and women members have shown that they are physically and mentally strong enough to compete with Asian Universities’ boat club members in any invited regatta ever held in three decades. Moreover, YUBC teams are well-prepared to participate in invited regatta in 2019 and 2000. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, all the boat races of both inter-Universities and abroad have been halted. Nevertheless, the onus is on alumni of University of Yangon to share any proud and glorious events and background of it. That is why I collected about the history of Yangon University Boat Club (YUBC) and shared its famous events and activities.
By honouring the hundredth Anniversary of Yangon University, I am convinced that Yangon University might maintain its prestigious status and stand still among the prestigious Universities around the world.
In conclusion, I am so honoured that I have got an opportunity to write about the brief history of Yangon Universities’ Boat Club and its significance sport activities throughout the hundred years ( from 190 to 2020) and present standing with brilliant rowing teams formed by various Universities and colleges in Yangon so far.
References; Dr Kyaw Win (Retired History Department,University of Yangon) ဒေါက်တာကျော်ဝင်း သမိုင်း ပါမောက္ခ(ငြိမ်း); ရန်ကုန် တက္ကသိုလ်သမိုင်း (၁၉၂၀-၂၀၂၀)
Reference ; Wikipedia Credit; Htet Lin Aung (Secreatry of Yangon Universities’Boat Club ) who contributed the photos of YUBC to this article.
Corrigendum
In the yesterday article’s photo caption — A bronze bust of Commodore Than Pe, who was a president of YUBC from 1958 to 1962 — the name was erroneously mentioned as Pe Than. The error is regretted. —Author
By: Tommy Pauk
