An inspired performance by the swimmers from St. Joseph’s College helped them edge out Ananda College for the boys’ overall swimming team title, at the National Age Group Aquatic Championships, held at Ananda College Aquatic Centre yesterday.
Mathew Abeysinghe from Asian International School competing in his record setting 200m freestyle swim. Pic by Sanka Vidanagama |
St. Joseph’s finished with a tally of 381 points, just one point ahead of Ananda College. The other teams below them were Royal College who rounded up 291 points, Trinity College Kandy with 266 points and Asian International School with 128 points.Mahamaya College ran away with the girls’ overall championship, securing a score of 399 points, over hundred points more than their closest challenger Vishaka Vidyalaya. The two slots beneath them fell to Musaeus College and Southland Balika MV.
The day saw two records tumble as W. Wickramarachchi from Royal Central College blistered through the 200 meters, in the under 16 age group, in 2.25 minutes and Mathew Abeysinghe from AIS took the 200 meter Freestyle in the same age category in a time of 2.04 minutes.
Coincidentally it was these two swimmers who were involved in the most exciting match of the day, Wickremarachchi’s record setting 200 meter butterfly swim. Both Wickremarachchi and Abeysinghe went for each other right from the start and continued to stay close to each other until they reached the finishing line. The race was so close contested that both Wickramarachchi and Abeysinghe broke the old record set by Conrad Francis in 1996, with Abeysinghe finishing with a timing of 2.25.35 minutes, just a few split seconds behind Wickramarachchi.
The overall team championship will be awarded once the diving and synchronized swimming events draw to a close next week. The National Age Group Swimming Championships began on Thursday and continued for the past three days. |
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