Untimely retirement of a star in the making
Sri Lanka’s most gifted and decorated female swimmer Kimiko Raheem, an Olympian who had won five gold medals at a single South Asian Games (SAG), has announced her retirement, the Sunday Times learns. This was confirmed by her coach Manoj Abeysinghe and the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU).
Kimiko Raheem
“She notified me, and I have informed SLASU. It’s sad, since her talent did not reach full potential as far as performances were concerned. But when an athlete of her calibre makes up her mind to retire, we have to respect that,” coach Abeysinghe said.
Raheem, 22, whose epic feat and an outgoing personality made her the ‘Darling of 2016 South Asian Games’ in India, won the highest number of medals by a Sri Lankan woman swimmer at a single SAG.
Sri Lanka won 39 medals in swimming at the 2016 SAG which included, a dozen gold medals, 16 silver and 11 bronze. This was Raheem’s solitary SAG event, and she ruled the pool.
A couple of years earlier in 2014, she was only 15 and already a rising star. Raheem represented her country honourably at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and showed a developed and grown performance reaching the semi-finals in all three backstroke events — 50m, 100m and the 200m.
She further bettered that feat by representing Sri Lanka at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil a couple of years later.
With injuries playing a crucial part in sports, so did Raheem suffer a huge blow with an injury to her wrist in mid-2017. After a carefully followed guideline of the Texas A&M University in the USA, she had to travel to Australia to get a surgery done at a hospital in Sydney in January 2018. She fully recovered after the surgery.
Texas A&M University, where she studied and pursued her swimming career, was looking after her in a great way towards her full recovery to compete at world stage again. She proved it by earning the FINA World Championship qualifications in Singapore in the following year.
It was at the Singapore Swimming Nationals in 2019, that she won a gold medal with an improved timing of 1:04.10 in her main event, the 100m backstroke that earned her the FINA World Championships qualifying standards.
Kimiko (R) after her feat of five gold medals at the 2016 SAG
Raheem’s quest was to compete in the South Asian Games 2019 and Tokyo Olympics 2020, followed by the Asian and Commonwealth Games. But all her hopes and dreams were shattered, as Raheem failed to offer her services to the country unfortunately.
She would have won a further five gold medals or perhaps more than that if she participated in the SAG 2019, but due to some reasons that should have not happen for any elite athlete in Sri Lanka, Raheem missed the regional event.
“She was missed terribly at the previous South Asian Games. It’s unfortunate.” Abesinghe, her coach at Killer Whale Aquatics, said.
During her peak times, it was evident that Raheem was dominating the sport the way Deepika Chanmugam ruled women’s swimming in Sri Lanka. After the Singapore Nationals, Raheem turned down the opportunity to cash in her success by turning professional and instead chose to focus only the studies at the Texas A&M University in the USA, where she currently lives.
Raheem’s family of three sisters, born to win, by now had left a legacy. Her sisters are former SAG gold medallists and breaststroke swimmer Mayumi and freestyle swimmer Machiko. Kimiko Raheem currently holds the highest number of national records in 50m butterfly (long course), 50m backstroke (long course and short course), 100m backstroke (long course and short course), 200m backstroke (long course and short course), 200m individual medley (long course), 50m freestyle (long course) and 100m freestyle (long course) in Sri Lanka.
Raheem, had been linked with the Killer Whale Aquatics and was coached by the legendary Manoj Abeysinghe from the age of 11. While studying at Asian International School, she also trained under the same coach, who revolutionised swimming in Sri Lanka.
“Any athlete, when they are at elite level, make up their own minds. So, whatever the reason may be, she decided to retire from swimming. We have to respect that,” her coach said.
“She is an exceptionally talented swimmer. I don’t think she achieved anything she could have really hoped to achieve with that talent. But that’s life. From the girls I have coached in Sri Lanka she is the best,” Abeysinghe, who trained her more than a decade and the current national coach, said.
| Long Course National Records held by Kimiko Raheem | |
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