Navaratnam of blinding speed

Sharm de Alwis

Although it was a lime and a spoon that propelled him into athletics, Summa in his day was the fastest man in all of Asia. As a nine year old at Royal he ran 25 yards to win the egg -and- spoon first place.

Nineteen years later in 1953 in Madras he clocked 10.4 seconds to beat Lavy Pinto of India when Lindy Remigino of USA struck gold at the Helsinki Olympics with the identical timing. Robert Morrow also of the US clocked 10.5 secs in the Melbourne Olympics of 1956. THEY RAN ON CINDER TRACKS!

Blitzering runs

At the Ceylon AAA National Championships, also of 1953, he beat Pinto and went over to the CH&FC grounds to play rugger for All-Ceylon against the Australian Colts which game the visitors won, 11-3, despite Summa's blitzering runs down the line. He was concussed in this game but, against doctor's orders he faced the starter's orders to run toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder and beat Pinto but with identical timing of 11 secs.

And thus was he one of those rare Double Internationals our country has ever produced.

Summa Navaratnam was born in 1925 in the remote village of Araly North in Vadukodai of the Jaffna peninsula but his Civil Servant father wanted the son groomed in the traditions of the British Public Schools and so was Royal College chosen for him "to learn of books and men and how to play the game".

Second game

The first time Royal won against Trinity at rugger in the series which had been inaugurated in 1920 was when Summa made two openings as a sixteen year old winger in M.N.Jilla's team of 1941 for the final tally to be 11-3.

Royal repeated the success two years later by winning both games 6-0 and 5-3. Summa who deputized for the injured captain, Larry Foenander intercepted a pass from Rudra Rajasingham to C. 'Kalu' Jayasuriya and scored for Royal in the second game which was the first time the series was played in two Legs. He had won his rugby Colours earlier at the age of fifteen.

Having won his Athletic Colours when he was in the Relay team as a fourteen year-old in the year Royal bagged the Tarbat and Jefferson Cups and having won the Public Schools 220 and 440 yards he entered the Big League and won the 100 and 200 meters in the Nationals of 1946 against R.E.Kitto, Upali Gunaratne and Oscar Wijesinha.

Olympic Trials

He was 2nd to Kitto at the Olympic Trials of 1948 and was in the Relay team with Duncan White, Oscar Wijesinha and John de Saram at the Commonwealth Games of 1950 in Auckland.

A sprightly 83 today, Summa has coached the Royal College 1st XV for fourteen seasons and still takes on the boys at grassroots levels. In all he has been a coach for over fifty years.

In Athletics he has produced Darrel Lieversz [200 and 400 m National champ], Lakshman de Alwis [National coach], Nirmala Dissanayake [Women's 200 m], Lorraine Rutnam [100 m champ in the 1960 Asian Games] and Jilska Flamer-Caldera [80 m Hurdles champ].

Summa has been the last President of the CRFU in 1972 and the first President of the SLRFU of 1974.

Blinding speed

As a player with blinding speed, he was married to Rosemary Rogers who is now the foremost author of Historical Romance novels with best sellers like Sweet, Savage Love. He has been an integral member of the Low-country team in the Capper Cup games of 1949, '50, '51, '54 and '55.

He and Lecho Ephraums were the only Ceylonese in the All-Ceylon team of 1950 which played against the British Isles RU team. In 1953 he played for Colombo Clubs as well as for All-Ceylon against the Australian Colts. He was in the Barbarians team of 1955 against the NZ RFU Colts and he has been in the All-Ceylon teams of 1949, '50, '51, '53 and as Captain in 1954 in the All-india Tournaments.

A strict disciplinarian, he has dropped even the trump card Ago Paiva on an overseas tour when the player came late for practices after a carousal.

As a coach he has taken on CR and the Police and has helped SSP Sivendran to coach SPC and Wesley and Mahes to coach STC. He has been part-time coach of Isipatana at the time he was coaching the Police.

Summa Navaratnam has achievements to be written about like school boxing, cricket and cycle racing but then, who wants to drink water after wine?