Swimmers in troubled waters as trials ruled out
Sri Lankan swimmers, after multiple stop-start training and a hiatus since 2020 in local events, are in for more suffocation as selections have been ruled out, but are forced to field a team, aiming at their only second international competition since the pandemic broke in 2020.
President of the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU), Nethru Nanayakkara, speaking to the Sunday Times yesterday said the ball is now in the selection and technical committee’s court and they will have to take a call by 22nd of this month or sometimes, as early as in the coming days. By October 22, they will have to finalise the swimmers.
But he was of the stance that there is absolutely no time to hold a trial and wrote off the same, as pools were all closed and reopening only coming Saturday (16). It’s left to them to arrive with a mechanism to find a solution.
“None of the local swimmers in the country have trained recently. However, we have to field a team too, or else in the future, we’ll face a problem of being uninvited. All the top coaches have discussed and raised concerns on how to conduct trials sans training,” he said.
Nanayakkara, however, revealed that plans are in place to hold trials for Commonwealth Games and Asian Games at the end of January 2022.
In the meantime, Shehaan Dias, a top coach, said on Friday, to close the calendar they do have a competition – the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi – in mid-December. However, if the swimmers are to properly return and make a splash in the waters, they have to go through trials, which has to be worked off by the second week of November the latest, in order for smooth sailing into the competition.
Dias said it’s an if-at-all a three-scenario situation.
“Either, we follow the protocol of qualifying through trials or consider the 2019 record or in the worst case scenario, cancelling participation,”
But in order to conduct the trials, the first-scenario, they will have to resume what would be their third training for this year. Dias, however, though, admitted the trials, is not a modus-operandi he endorses, because swimmers won’t be at their 100 percent.
Matthew Abeysinghe is by far the only swimmer available and qualified to represent Sri Lanka internationally - File pic
Selecting basing it on past record, the second-scenario, the world body does have a provision for timings from 2019 to be considered. In that case, they might then go by that and select the – two boys and two girls – the slots assigned for each country, and these four would be making up the Sri Lanka squad. A nation can carry only a maximum of four swimmers.
“Ideally, there has to be a trial. The 2019 performance it’s not bad, but swimmers can change, hence there should be selections. If the meet is in December second week, the entries should go a month prior or 21 days, the latest. Hence, we should have a trial in mid-November. But a month’s training is not going to help,” Dias explained.
That is because, if the country’s swimming body rules out the past record basis, and instead only a trial, it would be an unfair mechanism, because the Lankan swimmers have been out of waters for months. That period won’t suffice for them to prepare.
“A country’s body deciding against the past record is not a rule-breaker and is permissible”, he revealed.
He said, even if the pools reopen, until the vaccinations are completed the local meets cannot be held.
Speaking of the potential participants, Dias reckoned the only swimmer to be of automatic qualification is – Matthew Abeysinghe – as the two-time Olympian is a cream of the crop with or without training. The other slots are contestable.
His own mentee, Akalanka Peiris, should make the cut on 2019 performance as the second and the last men’s contestant. Nevertheless, Lankan swimmers based overseas will have an edge, if the former goes into a selection, since the others have been on the ball continuously. But nothing will upset Abeysinghe’s chances, as nobody has bettered nor swam his time. Hence, Abeysinghe is through.
Though there was a Lankan contingent at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, outside that, there has been a complete drought in the water sport.
The Asian Youth Games, supposed to be held in China, in the third week of this December, is unlikely to go ahead. Hence, the Sri Lankan swimmers are left only with this one-off tour this year.
Dias concluded, none of the dates for trials, training or even entries to be lodged have been notified officially. As it stands, swimmers can face a deep-end drowning.