Hypocrisy by the ‘one’ supposed to be the voice to all of aquatics
Swimming coaches in the country have raised their concerns about the hypocritical act of a top individual who is supposed to be the top representative of the aquatic sport at the country’s highest advisory panel. The said individual, a former top swimmer and a coach, who is also a member of the country’s top policy and decision making unit of the Sri Lanka’s top sports administration, is said to have ‘secretly’ conducted training sessions for swimmers of his own club, run at a well-known cricketing venue in Colombo, during the time of the current lockdown, which has been active now for over one month.
Coaches who run swimming academies in Colombo and outstation cities such as Kandy and Ambalangoda, have been struck deep upon hearing the fact that this individual has been continuing activities at his location almost every day for past few weeks during the early hours of the day.
The coaches have gathered information on training sessions of this individual that have continued even during this week to as much as 10 of his students, who are not even near the national level. The same activity has also occurred during the previous lockdown periods during May and June, when authorities imposed strict restrictions on aquatic sports activities.
The concerned coaches, some with numbers of national swimmers, are in a dire situation as to what they should do and whom they should reach with several international meets scheduled to take place in the coming months. The swimming fraternity is aware that important world events are scheduled to take place during November and December and they are worried that if a trial competition is held, swimmers from the mentioned club would get an unfair advantage while others, including swimmers of the national squad, have been inactive during the recent weeks and months due to the lockdowns.
They also criticise the manner this individual is carrying his training sessions and question if those training under him have received vaccination doses for COVID-19, as instructed by the health authorities. So far, according to one of the coaches, who wished to remain anonymous, none of the swimmers from the national squad have received vaccinations yet. The sports authorities, however, have instructed all top swimmers through the local governing body for aquatic sports, that the vaccination will be completed by the end of October.
The concerned coaches have gathered information from other sources on the number of swimmers and trainers involved in training sessions at this solitary and confined facility in Colombo. Many of them, including swimmers and other stakeholders, have been struck with frustration and panic on how an individual, who is supposed to be the guardian of swimming in Sri Lanka at the highest level, could keep others in the dark and act selfishly, when high risks are inevitable as advised by the health authorities of the country.