This was no coincidence, as it was Dr. Hayman who introduced the sport to the school at the time. 17 years down the line, the Thomians have Won 11 matches to the Royalists Four matches while 2 matches have ended up in a draw.

In 1997, both schools decided to make a minor change to the format of the Water Polo rivalry. This involved adding another aspect to the competition, where a junior team would take part. T

his was very similar to the format of the Bradby where a junior game was in force at the time and allowed for team building with a future outlook.

The schools then agreed to allow an under 15 team to then battle it out for the Mahinda Liyanage Trophy.

Today the Water Polo Rivalry features two formats. The senior team battles it out for the Hayman, while the juniors play for the Mahinda Liyanage.

This year’s Match will be captained by Darith De Silva for St. Thomas’ and Yahan Samarajeewa for Royal. The wins tally since recently has tipped in favour of the Royalists with four consecutive wins for the Hayman since 2005.

The ever increasing crowd for the Water Polo Contest has also resulted in the venue been shifted to the larger Susathadasa Indoor Stadium Pool.

Last year’s Hayman, which was won by the Royalists also featured some new records

The highest aggregate score of 21 goals in a match

The largest margin of 6 goals in the first leg

The highest score of 10 goals in the first leg

The highest score of 11 goals in the second leg

The biggest victory margin of 10 goals in a match.

This year the 18th annual Royal Thomian water polo encounter will be held on September 28 and October 2, at the Sugadathasa indoor stadium pool.

We wish both teams the best of luck. May the best team win!