Anyone observing Mathew Abeysinghe at a swim meet will immediately attach one principal quality to the youngster from Asian International School: unswerving focus. It is etched over every inch of his face as he heads towards the starting block and makes itself abundantly visible once he is in the water, leaving all his competitors in [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Abeysinghe dives for glory

By David Stephens
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Anyone observing Mathew Abeysinghe at a swim meet will immediately attach one principal quality to the youngster from Asian

Mathew Abeysinghe with the Milo Schools Colours Award for Emerging Sports Personality

International School: unswerving focus. It is etched over every inch of his face as he heads towards the starting block and makes itself abundantly visible once he is in the water, leaving all his competitors in a distant wake.

It is this tunnel vision that has led the sixteen-year-old through a lane of top podium finishes at several school and national swimming competitions. It has also earned him the enviable tag of being the country’s top swimming prospect, a whirlwind in the pool capable of drowning out the very best in Sri Lanka.

Yet Mathew remains extremely humble and circumspect about his current swimming achievements, constantly conveying a desire to improve and place Sri Lanka on the world’s swimming map.

However, even he cannot ignore the sensational year 2012 has been for him; a period which has seen him steal headlines at nearly every swimming competition he has participated in and earn the coveted Milo Schools Colours Award for Emerging Sports Personality. The high point of this successful swell came at the National and Junior National Aquatics Championships, an event where Mathew appeared imperious and indestructible. Among the numerous records he shattered at the tournament was Julian Bolling’s benchmark in the 400 meters Individual Medley which had stood unbroken for 26 years.

“2011 was a very good year for me but I had a couple of off meets where I didn’t swim that well. But I think 2012 has been extremely good even though I missed qualifying for the Olympics by about a second,” Mathew expresses.

Mathew in action. Pix by Amila Gamage

“I guess I’m more mature than I was before, both physically and mentally. Physically I think I’ve grown from what I was before, I’ve put on a bit of fat because I was really skinny. Mentally, I’ve improved in training. I’m challenging myself more.”

His progress is also bolstered by a strong swimming programme at his school- carefully structured and nurtured by his father, AIS and Killer Whale Aquatics club coach Manoj Abeysinghe- which he says generates an environment which “helps you to work harder and do things that you didn’t think you would be able to do.”

It helps too that many of his AIS teammates also share a locker room with him at the Killer Whale Aquatics club, making them seem less like training colleagues and more like family.

This cohesion was apparent when the school placed third at the recent Inter-International Schools Swimming Meet with a string of superlative outings. Mathew explains that the only reason they are not constantly perched at the number one spot is because they lack the sheer numbers sported by other participating schools.

“We (AIS) have very talented swimmers. Our girls’ team became national champions with just four people. The thing is we don’t have that many swimmers so we can’t compete with schools like Royal but our swimmers definitely have the most quality,” he says.
All these factors have imbued Mathew with prodigious determination. He brings this iron will to his daily training sessions where he pushes himself to the very brink of exhaustion in the hope of reaching goals other swimmers can only dream of.

Sometimes though training can tax Mathew’s reserves of motivation, especially considering how far advanced a swimmer he is aerobically when compared with other Sri Lankan swimmers who train with him. Nevertheless, he relishes the opportunity to practise and compete in the sport he loves with such a close-knit and talented group of individuals.

He pities the fact that many of these amazing athletes will eventually veer away from the sport in view of furthering their education, something Mathew attributes to being the leading factor behind swimmers from Sri Lanka not really breaking into the big leagues.

“The main difference between swimmers coming out of Sri Lanka and swimmers from other countries is studies. Studies are taken very seriously. People here don’t understand that you can do both and succeed at both. I think that’s why we are so behind in sports compared to countries like the US and Australia.”

Mathew hopes to support his assertion of being able to balance both activities with his own success. The swimming wunderkind says that he is more than confident he will make it to the Olympics while at the same time pursuing his educational goals.

“I’m still really young; I’m only 16, so I have a lot of time to improve. Every time I go to an international meet I drop time. So I have no doubt that I will qualify for the Olympics. Six months ago I missed qualification by only a second so I think I can definitely qualify. My next goal is the SAF Championships after that there is the Junior World Championship.”

Mathew says he extracts this confidence in his ability from all those around him, especially his father- who has trained him for as long as he can remember- his teammates and his alma mater, which has constantly supported his swimming development. With all these elements propelling him forward, Mathew Abeysinghe is perfectly poised to be an unstoppable force in the water. All that remains is for him to take a deep breath and plunge towards greatness.




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