Mirror
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Living
the dream “It’s very good,” she says smiling serenely, sitting with her long limbs crossed and her short hair tied back. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was just chatting about the weather, or about having her favourite KFC for dinner that night. But 19-year-old Meneka de Silva is talking about the Olympics, explaining how it feels to be a teenager good enough to swim at the 2004 Athens games. Meneka’s achievement is amazing, but what’s really intriguing is how calm and confident she is. Of course, she has had a few months to digest the exciting news. The important phone call came after the April SAF Games, where she, as the girl’s swimming captain secured the silver in her event, the 50m freestyle. But more than simply being happy, Meneka looks like someone who is perfectly content. “It’s one of my dreams come true,” she admits. “After the 2000 Olympics I really wanted to make it for the 2004 Games,” she says, but she’s been working towards this point since 1993. It was then that she started swimming at her school, St. Bridget’s Convent, and winning prizes at the meets she participated in. She claims, “I just wanted to beat my brother,” who is five years older than her. Later she moved on to national competitions, and currently holds over ten all-island schools swimming records, as well as the national record for the 50m freestyle. She started competing internationally when she was just ten years old, and since then she’s been all over the world, from Taiwan and Malaysia to the 2003 FINA World Swimming Championship in Spain. Just out of school and concentrating on her training, Meneka says, “I used to be the sporty person in school.” And she really means it. In addition to all her swimming, she was also very involved in netball, basketball, athletics, and water polo. In fact, “I used to excel in athletics, and my father used to tell me ‘you can be like Susanthika’.” Her parents may have wanted her to focus on athletics, but they’re very proud of her achievements. After all, Meneka comes from an active sports family. With a cricket-playing brother, a mother who did netball, and a father who played rugby, it’s easy for her mother to say, “We’re very happy, because even we enjoy sports.” With so many sports under her belt, she might be thought of as quite the tomboy. However, she admits a bit sheepishly, “I used to do ballet. No one ever believes me when I say that though.” Her career as a ballerina may not have lasted long, but even now she enjoys doing something creative, like making cards for her friends. She even took a break from all the swimming to take part in the KIT Challenge where her team came third. Really, Meneka is just like anyone her age – she loves to be with her friends, says she enjoyed every bit of school, and even though she’s been training since she was eleven, her mother still has to “remind her to concentrate.” For someone who’s going to be an Olympic swimmer, “concentrating” means quite a lot. Meneka wakes up at 5.15 every morning and starts training at 5.45. She practices twice a day, spending time at the gym and jogging with her father. Her current coach Julien Bolling has her doing difficult repetitions to perfect her sprinting before the games, which start on August 13. Her personal best right now is 28.48 seconds and she’s aiming for 27; “I’m getting there - I’m focused.” She has started practicing “visualisation,” where she imagines exactly what will happen at her August 20 race. She pictures herself going to the starting blocks, her family cheering her, her friends watching her on TV, and everything going right. In fact, the most important thing for her now is her attitude. Success isn’t just about physical strength, because “60% of it is psychological.” At this level, “everybody’s trained and you’ve done everything you can physically, but if you’re scared, there’s a problem,” says Meneka. She says she always thinks negatively, because it actually helps reduce her stress. Massages twice a week don’t hurt either! Says Meneka, her mother often goes to the library and gets her books on psychology, which has turned out to be a subject she is very interested in. She even followed a psychology course and is thinking of applying what she has learnt to a career in sports psychology. Her composure is a result of all the preparation she has done. She claims, “You have to have a lot of self-control. No late nights, and I start my days very early. I have to be self-disciplined. She believes that “it helps you mentally if you do a sport,” and it certainly shows in Meneka. She is focused on the Olympics, and on doing her best there. “I want to go for my personal best. But if something goes wrong, I’ll be okay. I have no regrets.” Meneka has been working on her attitude, and she thinks Sri Lanka needs to do the same when it comes to swimmers. “It’s not that we want to boast about our achievements, but we just don’t get enough recognition.” With Susanthika’s success, interest in athletics increased, and Meneka hopes she can do the same for swimming. Not many people her age are swimming competitively, because “most parents discourage it,” encouraging them to focus on their studies instead. Her mother’s opinion is that since “she was born with this talent, this is a good life for her.” For other young people who want to continue swimming, Meneka says, “You should have a goal when it comes to what you’re doing, and hang in there.” This
19-year-old has already achieved one of her lifelong dreams, but
she continues to think even bigger. Besides swimming, she wants
to be a coach and help young swimmers. Her long-term goal is to
be the Sri Lankan national coach. She then adds, “and be on
the Olympic Committee.” And thinking for a moment longer,
“be president of the Olympic Committee!” This girl has
big dreams, and with her talent and attitude, she can make them
come true. “After all, you can have dreams, can’t you?”
Meneka asks with a smile. And she is living proof that you can. |
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