Living his dream
For local youngsters on the hunt for a role model and to those who look to super heroes and movie stars for inspiration need look no further. That pacesetter just emerged right here in Sri Lanka and is known as Kyle Abeysinghe.
Kyle.Pic courtesy Sameera Weerasekera
It’s his real name and at just 17-years, Kyle has achieved the unthinkable. Kyle recently claimed two international medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games 2017 held in the Bahamas. The two silver medals he won were for the Men’s 100m and 50m Freestyle events.
To achieve that feat Kyle put in a huge amount of hard work and to make his efforts more comfortable, comes in the Abeysinghe clan for support– his parents and three brothers. But what shines through is his ever-positive attitude and humbleness.
“When I was younger I never won anything. I didn’t make even the top ten. If the youngsters nowadays are worried that they are doing bad as a youngster, it’s fine. When your body grows and develops, that’s when you start to do things better. They should not give up, but they should keep pushing forward in what they do. It’s important that they love what they do and good things will follow,” Kyle says simply.
Still a teenager with a simple upbringing and a school life routine, for Kyle, inspiration comes from within the walls of his own home. He has three older brothers — Andrew, Matthew and Dillon — as inspirations in addition to his mentor and trainer, his father Manoj Abeysinghe, a well renowned swimming coach.
When his older brother Matthew dominated — breaking national records, winning international medals and eventually ending up competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, many would have thought that was it. But little did many know about the youngest of the brothers.
“At the Commonwealth Youth Games, I swam the 100m and 50m Freestyles. In the 100m Freestyle final we were behind the block before the race, and I was thinking of my older brother, Matthew, who is an Olympian. Four years ago at the Asian Youth Games he won a bronze medal in the same event, so I thought if he can do it, then I can do it. He gives me a huge amount of motivation and so do my two oldest bothers. If they do well I’m happy, if I do well I’m happy and they are happy too,” said Kyle, while pointing out the important role his mother plays to help him manage things.
“My mom plays a huge part in my swimming life and my life obviously. Everybody’s moms play a huge part in their lives. Having a father who is also your coach, is sometimes tough, but at home he’s my dad and at practice he’s my coach. My mom always keeps a balance of the two, she’s the steady one. She provides me with all the things I want, love, care. That’s more than enough.”
Like any other youngsters of his age, Kyle has dreams but what turned it into a reality, was his love for the sport.
Born in Pennsylvania, USA, Kyle came down to Sri Lanka with his American mother and Sri Lankan father eight years ago. Had he remained in the USA, Kyle may have achieved more than what he has today, but the youngster is realistic in his words. “Maybe, that’s a hypothetical theory. I cannot say whether I would be better or not, to me it doesn’t matter, because what happened, happened. I have been living here for so long now, I really don’t know. I don’t remember USA much, since I was too young when I left. I have friends there though. This is my home.”
Kyle begins his day at 4.15am and trains for three hours before turning up at school. After school he gets to rest around three hours before hitting the swimming pool again for many hours. At the same time, he is keen on his studies. He aims to graduate from a university and become a sports psychologist and a swimming coach, like his father.
“My biggest goal of all is to win an Olympic medal. That’s every athlete’s goal and that’s the biggest achievement an athlete can get in the sporting arena. Other than that I just want to be the best swimmer I can be, I want get a swimming scholarship at a top university in the USA. I want to be one of the best swimmers in the world at some point in my career. As at now I am aware that I’m an inspiration to some people.
But I don’t let it get to my head. I like to stay humble, I don’t want to get too overconfident. Inspiring people is one thing, but using your popularity to further yourself is not a good thing. I always try to stay as humble as I can. I like to inspire people, make them better swimmers. There are little kids in my team with different aspirations that look up to me, and I always try to set an example to them,” said Kyle, who timidly took pride in doing well for his country, which he hopes to place on top of the world some day.