Short course swimmer and national champion Matthew Abeysinghe secured his ticket for the 2015 Kazan FINA World Championships to be held in Kazan, Russia in August clocking within the required qualifying time at the selections trials held at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Abeysinghe who was representing the Killer Whale Aquatics Club recorded a time of 50.87 seconds in the selection trials in the 100m freestyle event where the FINA ‘B’ qualifying time was 51.12 seconds. Matthew Abeysinghe already holds the national record for the 100m freestyle event which he established in last year’s Youth Olympic games and his 50.87 timing missed him breaking the set record by a minute margin. The qualification achieved by Abeysinghe in getting entry to the championships through the B cut round makes him the first Sri Lankan ever to do so and also give the opportunity to two more participants from Sri Lanka to participate at the World Championships. With Abeysinghe’s achievement, the other two individuals who would most likely be making their trip to Russia for the championships will be Anandian Cherantha De Silva and Kimiko Raheem of Asian International School.
Abeysinghe who has been the highlight in the Sri Lankan swimming arena in the recent years has been able to rewrite the age old Sri Lankan swimming records set by the legendary Julian Boiling under his name.
Speaking to ThePapare, a delighted Matthew Abeysinghe shared “I am really happy with getting the B cut off for the World Champions and being the first Sri Lankan ever to do so is an honor. It wasn’t my best and I haven’t reached my potential yet. I wasn’t fully rested for the meet as it was a mid-season meet. So I know I will keep getting better as the season progresses and finally fully rested for the World Championships in Russia”
Abeysinghe who won bronze at the Asian Youth Games two years back and also represented the country at the Youth Olympics last year, intends reaching the highest peak in order to represent the nation at the 2016 Rio Olympics which would be his primary intention at this championship. Sri Lankan swimmers over the past years were not able to qualify for the Olympics but generally gained access via the Wild Card route. Matthew Abeysinghe speaks confidently that he would be able to break that barrier and get his qualification straight to Rio.
“My plan in the championships is to get as close to the Olympic A standard. I am already right off the Olympic B standard, I missed it by a tenth second. So my goal is to get close to the ‘A’ cut and then by the Olympic year, I have the cut to secure my spot at the Olympics. This is something no other Sri Lankan swimmer has ever done actually”.
Starting from the Schools swimming arena representing Asian International School, he has been coached by his father Manoj Abeysinghe and has being tagged to be “Sri Lanka’s most accomplished swimmer”.
ThePapare.com wishes Matthew Abeysinghe all the very best.
