Disappointed yet determined
Dimuth Akalanka Peiris may continue to fight his way in swimming until he feels unsafe and thinks it's time to switch and focus on a career path
Swimmer Dimuth Akalanka Peiris, 21, is one of those unlucky blokes to be cold-shouldered by authorities of Sri Lanka’s sports echelon, despite having credentials and showing promise of a competitive career. Currently coached by Shehan Dias, Peiris is in the list of ‘blacks’ or perhaps an un-ceremonial victim of pity politics in Sri Lankan sports.
Peiris, who is supposed to be the only existing swimmer based in Sri Lanka with international recognition, has been perhaps the only athlete unlucky not to earn a contract offered by the Ministry of Sports through its latest National High-Performance Strategy and Sports Tier System, which was launched early this year.
The idea behind this new concept by the National Sports Council (NSC) was to ‘create a unified approach to high-performance sport in Sri Lanka that is value-based while, producing sustainable and improved performances to inspire the nation through more Sri Lankans winning at Olympic, Paralympic and World Championships in targeted sports’.
Accordingly, the experts of NSC has four segments from Tier 1 to 4 with the top group of High-Performance Sports, being targeted for medal prospect sports and athletes. Tier 2 is a slot created for High Potential Sports in which the top eight in individual and top six in team sports will be part of. Tier 3 is identified as Upcoming Sports where sports or athletes possess the potential to reach Tier 2 in a cycle of four, eight or 12 years. Tier 4 is a segment reserved for sports unwilling to work along with the Tier system. The intention through this scheme or system is to target the Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic levels.
However, strangely or interestingly, Peiris’ allocation in this system belongs to Tier 3, despite his representation of the country at the World Aquatic Championships as the only male swimmer in 2019, the Asian Games Jakarta and Youth Summer Olympics Argentina, both in 2018.
He also became the first Sri Lankan athlete to sit for the Advanced Level examination while taking part in a multi-sport event, the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018. That even became news to many international media and other publications.
He also represented the country at the Commonwealth Games 2018 and set the national record in 4x100m Freestyle Relay along with brothers Matthew and Kyle Abeysinghe and Cherantha de Silva.
Earlier at the Asian Age Group Championship in Uzbekistan in 2017, he claimed the national record for Men’s 100m Backstroke and at the Youth Olympics in 2018 Peiris set the Men’s 50m Backstroke record. His name also appears four times in the short course list for national records, besides another in 4x100m Medley Relay.
To add more to the record, he also won seven medals — a gold and three each of silver and bronze — at the South Asian Games in 2019.
Armed with all these credentials and still being 21, and an equally brilliant individual in academic activities, Peiris has been overlooked as a medal prospect while many others, probably with less impressive records than Peiris, have earned contracts.
One of the known reasons Peiris failing to secure a recommendation in order to earn a contract offered by the Sports Ministry is said to be the fact that swimming has been categorised in Tier 3, according to NSC ratings. Interestingly one of the NSC members, who is directly in charge of dealing with the athletes is a well-renowned swimmer, who has brought fame to Sri Lanka through his various participations internationally.
It has been said by this individual’s own words that swimming is a low tiered sport and only Matthew Abeysinghe is identified as the only swimmer recognised through this system. It is also reliably heard that Abeysinghe, who is based in the USA, has politely declined the contract, as he is currently in an excellent and secure surrounding to continue swimming and training.
Others say that Peiris is presently victimised merely because he changed his coach, who happen to be the assistant to this prominent figure in local swimming. Yet, he and Abeysinghe had been the only two athletes to secure Olympic slots as early as in 2019, qualifying through the Tripartite Invitation Place. However, now Abeysinghe is on his way to Tokyo with female swimmer Aniqah Gaffoor and no one knows how Peiris lost his place.
But the young swimmer is determined to keep up his match and continues to train under his coach, who looks at him compassionately. A few months ago Peiris was offered a scholarship in the USA by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, but one of the conditions was to forego his higher education for at least one year. This was an offer Peiris had to unwillingly decline given the state that he was just reaching 20 at that time and one of his dreams is to pursue both education and swimming, equally to the top level.
Hailing from Panadura, a city almost 25 kilometres down-south of Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo, Peiris is currently following his CIMA, a professional qualification in accountancy. But he devotes his energy and time equally towards swimming as well, even without support and encouragement from any of the officials. With a passionate family backing the youngster, Peiris is in the hunt to enrol at a fitting university in the USA, where he could do both.
Earning a contract offered by the Sports Ministry will only bolster Peiris’ chances of winning more medals for Sri Lanka, yet sadly nothing seems to come in his way. Pleas made by him and his coach have gone into deaf ears or conveniently ignored with comfortable excuses, making him a self-dependent individual.
Dimuth Akalanka Peiris may come as that rare sporting individual, whose feathers are clipped off by egoistic ideologies by certain individuals. Sri Lanka has a rich history of shunning potential international sportspersons in different disciplines, but Peiris is a different kettle of fish. If he does not get help, he prefers to help himself, after all, Peiris is toiling to win medals for the country in the sport he loves and has potential.