(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 distribut-ed  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  on-wards,  occasional  inter-  college  boat  races  were  held  for  various  teams belonged to colleges of Yan-gon.  In 1939, Rangoon University Boat Club rowing team started to compete  with  English  Boat  Club  rowing  team  with  English  rac-ing  boats.  Sometimes,  Burmese  laungs (မြန်မာလောင်းလှေများ) were used  in  competing  with  English  racing boats.

In 1945 and in 1946 (post sec-ond world war) , the writer Let-Wai- Min –Nyo (စာရေးဆရာ လက်ဝဲမင်းညို), 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 Uni-versity students from the Yangon Universities’ Boat Club.

In  1980s,  YUBC  teams  had  won  the  National  Championship  in local regattas.  Most of the bril-liant  rowers  (both  male  and  fe-male)  are  selected  for  National  Rowing Team (Myanmar Selected Rowing Teams) to meet the regat tas 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 Uni-versities’  Boat  Club  teams  have  gained  triumphs  in  the  invited  Boat  Races  in  Asia  in  1970s  and  1980s.  During  those  years,  Yan-gon 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  con-ducted by (F.E.A.R.A — Far East-ern  amateur  Rowing  association).                               

YUBC  teams  had  won  the  higher prizes in 1982 Regatta con-ducted by (F.E.A.R.A — Far East-ern amateur Rowing association) in Manila, the Philippines.

The  triumphs  of  Yangon  Uni-versities’  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 Ma-laysia and won some outstanding prizes  on  different  fixtures  of  the  boat races.

2018 Varsity Boat Race (VBR) held  in  October,  Penang,  Ma-laysia

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  Anniversa-ry  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 Anniver-sary the of the RUBC was held in 2003; the 90th Anniversary the of the RUBC was held in 2013 respective-ly. N.B. Rangoon University Boat Club  was  renamed  Yangon  Uni-versities ‘Boat Club in 1964 to date.

Up  till  now,  Yangon  Univer-sity  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 ountries.  Occasionally,  inter-col-leges  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  Uni-versities’ 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  coun-tries.  Yangon  Universities’  Boat  Club teams, made up of excellent members from respective Univer-sities in Yangon, are prepared for Asian University Games.

The winning results in inter-national rowing races participated by Yangon Universities’ Boat Club teams are rather encouraging due to  assiduous  efforts,  well-  disci-plined 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 mem-bers  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 Univer-sity might maintain its prestigious status  and  stand  still  among  the  prestigious  Universities  around  the world.

In  conclusion,  I  am  so  hon-oured that I have got an opportu-nity  to write about the brief history of Yangon Universities’ Boat Club and  its  significance  sport  activi-ties throughout the hundred years (  from  190  to  2020)  and  present  standing  with  brilliant  rowing  teams formed by various Univer-sities and colleges in Yangon so far.

References;  Dr  Kyaw  Win  (Retired History Department,Uni-versity of Yangon) ဒေါက်တာကျော်ဝင်း သမိုင်းပါမောက္ခ(ငြိမ်း); ရန်ကုန် တက္ကသိုလ် သမိုင်း (၁၉၂၀-၂၀၂၀) Reference ;  Wikipedia Credit; Htet   Lin   Aung   (Secreatry of  Yangon  Universi-ties’Boat Club ) who contributed the photos of YUBC to this article.

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