The two para swimmers of Sri Lanka flew the lion flag high with their excellent performances at the recently concluded 4th Asian Para Games – Hangzhou 2022, winning a silver and a bronze medal.
On the last day of the competition, Galina Basnayake won the silver medal in the women’s S9 category 400m Freestyle event with a new personal best time of 5:18.28. Basnayake competed in the women’s S9 category 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly events and finished overall 4th in the 100m freestyle event. She is a swimmer from Rainbow Aquatics and is coached by Julian Bolling. Basnayake is an undergraduate from SLIIT and is a former student at Lyceum International School – Wattala.
The bronze medal was won by Naveed Raheem on the same day in the Men’s S9 category 400m Freestyle event with a remarkable personal best time of 4:49.63. Raheem also participated in the Men’s S9 category 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly events. Raheem is a final year AL student at the D.S. Senanayake College – Colombo and is a member of the Killer Whale Aquatics. He trains under Coach Manoj Abeysinghe.
The Sri Lanka Para Swimming team was led by the former Olympian Coach Julian Bolling.
Swimming events of the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou 2022 were held from 23rd October to 27th October 2023 at HOC Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China.
