Airman’s cause against polluting beaches
Until April 10, Roshan Abeysundara was an ordinary Airman, living a normal life with his wife, parents and sisters in their family house in Talalle, Matara. But the very next day, he became a sensation.
He swam across the Palk Strait, a distance of 59.3 kilometres, under 29 hours and breaking a 50-year-old record, set by V.S. Kumar Anandan in 1971, between the shortest distance that separates Sri Lanka and India.
Abeysundara, now 32, was just 18 years old when he developed the obsession to wear a military uniform of any sort. Being a swimmer, who had competed at All-Island meets and swimming captain of his school, Matara Maha Vidyalaya, Abeysundara, still a teenager, had an easy entry to Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
Almost 13 years on, Abeysundara’s routine at the Air Force had not changed much, until he began thinking seriously about open water swimming. As a school swimmer he had competed in 200m and 400m freestyle events and even represented the Air Force in 2018 and 2019 at the National Age Group Championship.
“Our family house is located on the beach front in Talalle, Matara. I have been living there since my childhood. The most I got to see in recent years is a polluted beach and ocean in my vicinity. To tell you the truth, the reason why I really wanted to do this swim was to create a platform to convey a message, that is not to pollute the ocean and the beach. My ambition was to attract at least 100 people,” Abeysundara told the Sunday Times.
What he initially aimed at, is to convey the message of keeping plastic and polythene away from the ocean and beach to at least 100 pairs of eyes and ears. His brave swim of 28 hours, 19 minutes 43 seconds to cover a distance of 59 kilometres and 300 metres from the Talaimannar Pier to Danushkodi, Rameshwaram of India, and back, not only gave Abeysundara the ownership of the Asian record for swimming across the Palk Strait, but also life to his vision of keeping the ocean and beach clean.
An environmentalist by heart, the swimming Airman Abeysundara was looking for an amalgamation of what he knew and what he could do to save the ocean and beach from being polluted by plastic and polythene dumping. If a different individual had the same surroundings with limited resources as Abeysundara, the script would have had a totally different storyline. And thus, he thought out-of-the-box to change the fate of what would have been impossible.
Roshan being welcomed after his record swim
“Swimming is all that I know and do. I wanted to build a bridge, where I could do something extraordinary and by doing that deliver an important message about nature. After months of hard work and practice, I can stand tall now, proud of what I achieved,” he said.
The record set by V.S. Kumar Anandan, a Guinness World Records holder, for swimming across the Palk Strait from Sri Lanka to India and back was 51 hours, in 1971. But for someone like Abeysundara, who was a specialist in 200m and 400m freestyles, swimming a hefty distance continuously was a challenge. Yet, he made sure to commit himself to the task and ambition.
At the Air Force, he used to indulge in other watersports like waterpolo and participated in open sea swimming events of 2 Miles and 6 Miles conducted by Mount Lavinia Hotel after 2009. By 2012, he improved by being placed sixth in the sea swim event and at the same time he represented Air Force at the National Age Group Swimming Championship in 200m and 400m freestyle events.
Gradually the idea of present achievement began popping up in his mind, and that resulted in Abeysundara joining the Polhena Water Sport Club in his hometown Matara. After revealing his intention to his colleagues at the club, Abeysundara’s intention became more lucid and active.
He related his idea of swimming across the Palk Strait to Polhena Club’s K.W. Yasaratne, Maduwantha and Ajantha, all former Naval officials, who helped rope in the support of Ministry of Tourism, Ocean University, Dr Viranjitj Thambugala of Avero Lanka, who financially supported Abeysundara throughout.
To adapt to the conditions that may come as a challenge on the way, Abeysundara began training by swimming for hours, mostly during the wee hours of the day past midnight. After committing heavily, Abeysundara made a sea-swim of 25 kilometres from opposite the Matara Bus Stand to the Koggala Air Force Base in 10 hours and 37 minutes, thus creating a new Sri Lanka record in January this year.
On February 26, he took another challenge to swim 24 hours, a distance that could ideally shape him to swim across the Palk Strait in time to come. Abeysundara set off from opposite the Matara Bus Stand in the sea and reached Hikkaduwa after 23 hours swimming 49 kilometres.
The Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana promoted Roshan Abeysundara to the rank of Corporal
“I barely visited my family or saw my wife during the past 10 months, as I was fully committed and focused to my objective. I was pleased with the feedback of my two sea swims given by the SLASU (swimming governing body of Sri Lanka) and I decided to take the challenge of swimming to India and back during April,” he detailed.
With the fullest backing of Sri Lanka swimming officials, his club at Polhena, and SLAF, Abeysundara set off on his target on April 10 at 2.30am from the Urumalai Pier in Talaimannar. Following him were 15 lifeguards in three Sri Lanka Navy boats and two private boats, who had to hand over Abeysundara to the three vessels of Indian Coastguards. Six judges appointed by FINA, the world governing body for swimming, were involved in this whole exercise. Three of them were in the side of Sri Lanka waters while the other three were observing the progress from the Indian side of the sea.
Abeysundara swam for 10 hours and 37 minutes to reach the shores of Danushkodi, where nearly 200 Indians, including the press were ashore but the brave Airman had to stop at a point before the beach, gesture to the crowd and return to the sea to swim back to Sri Lanka. Eventually he reached Talaimannar after a swim of 28 hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds during the early hours of April 11.
“It was overwhelming to see many had flocked in Danushkodi to greet me. There I understood my message had already begun spreading. For many my challenge may look like a record-breaking performance, but in reality I swam against plastic and polythene dominating the seas and beaches,” Abeysundara explained.
During his swim of 59.3km, Abeysundara was barred from coming aboard a boat, holding any individual’s arms or at least making any verbal contact unless an emergency arose. He was fed with food and water by a net attached to a three-metre-long stick.
Abeysundara, who was an Aircraftsman when he set off on his mission was promoted to Corporal by the SLAF for his feat, and a week later on April 19, he was conferred a special award and named an environmental brand ambassador by the Ministry of Environment.
Roshan in action during his marathon swim
“My plea of not to dump plastic and polythene into the ocean has finally reached many ears. This is the best response I could get and it shows that the purpose of my whole exercise has finally paid off. This qualifies me to conduct programmes and workshops for school children on ocean pollution. I intend to initiate that part of my project in the near future,” Abeysundara revealed.
A part-time triathlon athlete, who had turned out for SLAF at many national events, undoubtedly made his institution proud, and also his caring family — wife Manoji Wijeratne, a medical officer, father Nandasena, mother Sriyani and sisters Nilusha and Hashini. Throughout his whole mission Abeysundara had a loyal friend, Kanishka Madumadawa, who looked into all his needs.
Abeysundara will return to SLAF after taking a long leave to fulfill his mission as a hero. Yet, he is not willing to take a long rest. Abeysundara is currently planning on his next mission, to cross another border from the sea with a bigger distance.
But as he said, “It’s yet too early to predict. Wait and see, it will be a better one”.