Asian and Commonwealth star Akalanka Peiris unlocks a new level of stardom with his latest rankings entering the FINA top 50 list in the Men’s Backstroke.
Hailing from St. Peter’s College, Akalanka Peiris has been going only up in the past few years, gaining international experience while his dedicated commitment in the sport of Swimming in Sri Lanka.
The 21-years old has already represented the National team at multiple Junior and senior FINA Swim meets, Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games having his peak year so far in 2018. Peiris, along with his teammates Cherantha De Silva, Matthew and Kyle Abeysinghe reached the Finals of the Men’s 4x100m relay at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games which made headlines as the first-ever Sri Lankan team to have achieved this feat.
Ever since then, Peiris made swimming his profession and performed above expectations at the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal. As the pandemic hit, Peiris majorly halted in his training and like most, had to keep away from any kind of meets for over a year.
Now, with just 2 months of training in his form, Akalanka pulls a rabbit out of the hat at the FINA World Championships, which is currently ongoing in Abu Dhabi. The youngster took on his events the Men’s 50m and 100m Backstroke (25m SC), yet with his lack of preparation, failed to make the top 8 in the draw.
However, his timing was well sufficient to enter the World’s top 50 swimmers in both events and has re-written history once again. Peiris will return to the country, a proud chap only to get right back into training for his next mission, the 2022 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
At a time where Sri Lanka is down in the dumps with the Covid-19 virus, this hero stepped up to the plate and delivered excellence. We at ThePapare.com couldn’t be prouder of this young star whose journey we’ve followed since he was a teenager swimmer looking for his first big break.
Take a bow, Akalanka, Sri Lanka is proud!
