Abeysinghe sets the pool on fire
Mathew Abeysinghe from Asian International School continued his dream run through the National and Junior National Aquatics Championships by setting yet another national record, this time in the men’s 200 meter freestyle swim, during action at the Sugathadasa Stadium pool yesterday.
Mathew Abeysinghe streaking to victory. Pic by Ranjith Perera.
The 16-year-old Abeysinghe burst off the blocks and took the event by the scruff of its neck, leaving his competition trailing in his wake as he finished in a time of 1:54:72. K. Rupasinghe from Sri Lanka navy came in a distant second with a time of 2:06:39, just a few seconds ahead of P. Senanayake Sri Lanka Air Force, who finished in 2:08:13 in the third place.
This emphatic outing came hot on the heels of Abeysinghe’s conquest in the 400 meters Individual Medley earlier on Friday, where he shattered Julian Bowling’s 26-year record in the event. His timing of 4:47:6 was over a second faster than Bolling’s record, which was set at the 1986 Asian Games in Korea.
In the women’s bracket, Olympian Reshika Udugampola of Killer Whales was stunned in the 50 meter Butterfly event by a superlative performance from Kimiko Raheem Asian International School, who swam to victory in a record-breaking time of 30: 67.
Although Udugampola did her utmost to gain control of the race, she did not possess the extra burst of energy required to reel in the race leader. Incidentally the record which Raheem broke was one belonging to Udugampola, which was set last year.
Raheem’s sister Machiko also of Asian International School was in sublime form, and mimicked her sibling in setting a new record in the women’s 800 meter Freestyle. She finished in 9:56:10, comfortably ahead of Methma Jayawardana (Musaeus 10:33:29) and Sunethra Wijerathne (Mahamaya Girls School Kandy 10:41:69).
In another of the day’s record-setting swims, Dianaka Dharmapriya of Trinity College smashed the junior national benchmark in the Boys under 14 200 meter Freestyle event, with a time of 2:09:99. He was trailed by Dilanka Shehan (Nalanda 2:13:04) and Dineth Jayakody (Maris Stella, Negombo 2:13:76).
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