Features

A Short History of Water Polo

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/27

by Lalin Fernando

On two consecutive Saturdays of October, Royalists and Thomians, the pioneers in schools water polo, and their supporters converge on the Sugathadasa Indoor Swimming Pool for their annual Hayman Trophy Water Polo contest. This year S Thomas’ College rinsed Royal by 37 – 17, after a two year Covid break. They scored a record breaking 23- 10 and 14- 7 wins in the two games to regain the trophy. It more than made up for their defeats in 2018 and 2019.

The interest in the game has grown a lot since the two schools began playing each other. The trophy series began in 1992. There are about 12 including girls’ schools playing the game. As to be expected they are all from Colombo.

In the 1950-1960s there were three water polo leagues in the country unlike today. Westerners also took part, like at rugby. It raised challenges and playing standards among the committed. The RAF at Katunayake joined in. Otters, Kinross, Colombo Swimming Club and Old Thomians were the prominent clubs. SL teams toured India, Thailand and Malaysia then.

In SL, matches are played today in an Olympic size Indoor swimming pool built in 1991 at the Sugathadasa Stadium on land alloted by former Mayor of Colombo VA Sugathadasa. It has a 2,500 seating capacity. Earlier club and school pools were found adequate for tournaments. FINA rules allow for a length of 20 -30 m between goals (15-25 m for women and teenagers) and width of 10-20m, according to the size of the pool. The pool must be 1.8 meters deep throughout. It also had under water cameras at the inception.

Unlike in the pre 1960s there is no three foot shallow end for players to rest, especially the goalie. Players must tread water all the time they play four quarters of eight minutes each of nonstop speed swimming , attacking the opponents goal and defending theirs, a terrific demand on the players strength, fitness, speed, stamina and playing skills and a thrilling delight to both players and spectators.There are no injury or drinks breaks, DRS, TV replays to slow the action but there is VAR (Video Assistant Referee) to assist but not overturn the referee’s decision. American football coincidentally has four quarters too!

The Hayman trophy was donated in 1992 by S Thomas’ College in memory of Dr RL Hayman, Mphil, MBE (Sherborne College and Oxford) its Sub Warden (1925-1956) who donated two swimming pools to te school. The one at Mt Lavinia in 1933 was the first ever and for a very long time the only swimming pool in any school.The second at the branch school in Gurutalawa (Sri Lanka’s Gordonstoun) on 350 acres of land donated by Mr. Leslie de Saram, a cousin of Canon RS de Saram, Warden of S Thomas’. Hayman was head master at Gurutalawa during the war years and up to 1956.

Most of the buildings that came up then were paid for with his own funds. According to Canon RS de Saram, Oxford boxing blue, Dr Hayman did not care to know how much he spent on S Thomas’. They included making payments for the Thalassa (Greek for sea) building for the school office and Fives courts now converted to basketball courts.

He believed that “to spend and be spent in the service of others” was his greatest privilege. He loved the school, the people and the country that he had chosen against the concerns and advice of his parents. He thrice refused (like Caesar at Lupacal) offers by Vice Chancellor Sir Ivor Jennings who came to Gurutalawa to ask him to join the new University of Peradeniya. When he died in Bournemouth, England in 1983, Bishop Lakdasa Wickremasinghe, (Gurutalawa and Oxford) conducted the service.

Royal College started swimming in 1934 using the Thomian swimming pool and started playing water polo in 1958. When St Joseph’s opened their swimming pool in 1952 Royal shifted to the Josephian and later to the SSC pool. The Royal pool was fittingly opened by a Thomian, Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1968

History of International water polo

To many spectators very little is known about water polo, let alone the rules or even the size of the pool. There are 13 nominated players of whom seven being the goalie, center forward, center back, two wing players and two will be actually treading water all the time. The numbers not surprisingly are similar to rugby sevens, American football and handball.

The game needs tactical thinking, team work and awareness. It is highly physical, demanding and difficult to play. It is probably the toughest and hardest sport in the world similar to handball (an Olympic team game since the 1936 games in Berlin and resumed in 1972) and gymnastics.

According to Dr Naresh Rao, US Olympic and water polo team physician, water polo requires aerobic (used for endurance) and anaerobic capacity (physical, mental and technical strength).An USA Olympic player says ‘to pull yourself out of the water (presumably to take a shot at goal) takes a tremendous amount of leg strength …to improve leg strength we use these weighted belts at practice’

Water polo used to be played in rivers and lakes in the mid 19th century in England. It was an aquatic version of rugby using an inflated vulcanized rubber ball from India. The word polo came from a Tibetan Balti language of Kashmir and was known as ‘Pulo’ .It was pronounced ‘Polo’ by the British troops when stationed in Cawnpore India, they played a game on horseback that had originated in Persia (Iran). Both ball and game were known as polo.

Water polo players used to plant the ball with both hands on the end of the pool like at rugby to score. Tactics were hide, dive and appear. The goalie was on the deck of the pool and jumped on the attacker. Much of it led to gang fights in the water and under water wrestling matches. It often ended with one man floating to the surface unconscious. In 1870 the London Swimming Association framed rules for indoor swimming pools.

It was introduced to USA in 1888 with the old rugby style of play adapted to American football. Flying salmon tactics had players leaping from backs of team mates to score. Violence was the main attraction. The rest of the world followed the British rules with Hungary (1889), Australia and Germany (1894), France (1895) Belgium (1900) following.

The new rules moved water polo from rugby to soccer. There was a goal cage three meteres wide and 0.9 m above the surface of the water. A player could only be tackled when one held the ball. No longer were players allowed to take the ball under water. The small rubber ball was replaced by a leather ball. It is an orange rubber ball now. Players can only use one hand to pass, collect and shoot. The goalie can use two hands.

Trudgeon Stroke

The common swimming stroke at water polo is the Trudgeon Stroke. It consists of alternating overarm strokes and a scissors kick. It was introduced to England in 1873 by a Scot player by that name. It was copied from South American Indians in Argentina. It emphasized swimming, speed and passing like at soccer. It is also called ‘combat side stroke’ and is used by the US Navy Seals as it allows them to swim more efficiently and reduce their body profile in the water.It was the first team event in the 1900 Olympics in Paris. An airtight nylon ball was then used. The matches were played in the river Seine. The champions were Osborne Swimming Club, a British club team among eight clubs from four countries that took part.

In the 1904 Olympics in St Louis USA, only US club teams played as US rules were mandated. A German team was disallowed to play .The matches were played in a pond in Forest Park under horrid conditions with players catching typhoid in an artificial contaminated pond leaving seven dead and 12 hospitalized. The US semi finals were close to a brawl.

Today FINA (International Amateur Swimming Federation) rules are followed. In 1914 USA agreed to the more civilized international rules. Europe dominated the game which was then described as a combination of swimming, football, basketball, ice hockey, rugby and wrestling! Britain’s King Charles III captained his college team at St Andrew’s University in Scotland.

The best in the world are the Hungarians who have won the most, (six) times at the Olympics and introduced the ‘dry’ pass with the Serbs and Croats closing in and Spain threatening. The Hungarian match v Russia after the 1956 invasion of their country by the Soviet army was called ‘blood on water’. The game is played all over the world today including those far apart as Brazil and China.

Visitors to the Dalmatian coast in summer could see lots of children practicing shooting at make shift goals in the sea as in beach water polo. Will SL see young people doing the same, in Kalkudah where one can wade for a hundred yards in knee deep sea water or off Casuarina Beach in the North?

With the sea all around and an abundance of lakes and rivers, water polo could become much more popular if also helped by sponsorship. Like rugby, despite physical limitations at international level, it suits the excitable temperament of the people! It costs little to play and attracts astonishing aficionados who are willing to undergo enormously punishing, strenuous and dedicated preparation in an exceptional character building game.

However sponsorship, which is vital, is sadly wanting. The excitement of the game should be the attraction and not just monetary return for captains of industry who are lured by the magic of a Royal-Thomian, Ananda-Nalandian or Joe-Pete joust that could draw immense crowds even if the game was ‘gudu’. Fortunately swimming as in all other sports is being promoted by building pools in small towns. Water polo will soon hopefully impact on Colombo from remote places, as in all other sports.

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Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.

Features

Banana and Aloe Vera

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

To create a powerful, natural, and hydrating beauty mask that soothes inflammation, fights acne, and boosts skin radiance, mix a mashed banana with fresh aloe vera gel.

This nutrient-rich blend acts as an antioxidant-packed anti-ageing treatment that also doubles as a nourishing, shiny hair mask.

* Face Masks for Glowing Skin:

Mix 01 ripe banana with 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel and apply this mixture to the face. Massage for a few minutes, leave for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse off for a glowing complexion.

* Acne and Soothing Mask:

Mix 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel with 1/2 a mashed banana and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply this mixture to clean skin to calm inflammation, reduce redness, and hydrate dry, sensitive skin. Leave for 15-20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

* Hair Treatment for Shine:

Mix 01 fresh ripe banana with 03 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply from scalp to ends, massage for 10-15 minutes and then let it dry for maximum absorption. Rinse thoroughly with cool water for soft, shiny, and frizz-free hair.