Armed with a number of the country’s most promising and prominent swimmers, the newly formed Killer Whale Aquatics club has already began making waves nationally by sweeping several medals at this year’s Senior National Swimming Championships. Now they look set to make their mark abroad as four of their swimmers gear up for foreign competition.
Mathew Abeysinghe and Reshika Udugampola are two swimmers from this quartet and both have secured qualification for the Swimming World Championships. The 16-year-old Abeysinghe is one of the country’s brightest future prospects and is currently the boys’ national champion as well as the reigning Under 17 champion from this year’s National Age Group Swimming Championships.
The jubilant Killer Whale Aquatics club after their performance at the National Swimming Championships. |
His Killer Whale colleague, Reshika, is the current female national champion and dazzled at the Senior Championships with a record breaking 50 meter swim of 31.24 seconds, comfortably ahead of the previous mark set by Gihara Amarasinghe. She will be looking to possibly improve on this performance when she plunges into competition at the premier international swim meet.
The club will also see more foreign action when it is represented at the forthcoming Asian Beach Games in Muscat, Oman by Sampath Weerakkody and Dilanjali Kaushalya. The pair will be competing in the 5km and 10 km long distance swims for men and women. Sampath has also proved himself a capable swimmer who is proficient even over shorter distances, as testified to by his third place finish in the 400 meter Individual Medley at the Nationals.
The club also hosts a cluster of prodigiously talented swimmers in its junior ranks, including the country’s present Junior National Champion, Dillon Abeysinghe, who established a new 200 meter Individual Medley record of 2: 30: 62 minutes at the meet.
Head Coach and club founder, Manoj Abeysinghe, is confident that successes such as those seen at the national championships will be replicated as he continues to work with each of his swimmers, helping them flush out any technical flaws and convert on their immense potential.
“I try to look at ways through which they can continue to improve even after several years of them feeling they have achieved their maximum. What we preach at Killer Whale is basically to not be afraid of working hard and pushing yourself,” Manoj assesses. |
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