Eat, Swim, Sleep, repeat – The tail of the “Maaluwa”

Royal College Swimming Crownsman, captain and double national Kanitha Munasinghe is an athlete to watch out for as he represents the country in Swimming at the upcoming South Asian Games to be held in India. ThePapare.com caught up with this superman in the water ahead of his departure to India.

Taking his current coach Mr. Julian Bowling for inspiration Kanitha grew up in the water from a young age, quite literally. His efforts were rewarded during his school career where he won coveted awards and broke national records which earned him Royal College Colours for 5 years in swimming while, also being presented the responsibility of leading the swimming team in 2012.

Under Kanitha’s captaincy Royal College won the Swimming National Championship after 16 long years, the National Schools’ Championship after 8 years, ended as runners up at the Public Schools’ Championship while he was named the Individual National Champion at the same championship.

Given his record in the water, after leaving school Kanitha was an easy pick for the Navy sports club who recruited him for both Swimming and Water Polo. Representing the club he won the National swimming championship and National Short course championship in 2013.

His achievements earned him his place in the Sri Lankan Swimming squad at the very young age of 16. He has lead the country at the Asian Championships in 2012 held in Dubai and Asian age groups championship in 2015 held in Thailand while, representing Sri Lanka at the World Championships held in 2013 in Spain.

Eat, Swim, Sleep, repeat – The tail of the “Maaluwa”His attainments in Water polo have been nothing but above par, he was Royal Captain in 2013, a member of the most dominant Navy Water Polo team while earning National Colours. The awards and championships he and his teams have won are too many to be mentioned.

Commenting on what of his best accomplishments, he said, “Breaking my own record twice was a feeling of great accomplishment” Kanitha broke the 7 year old 50m breast stroke national record set by Kalyana Weera of 31.6 seconds in 2013, setting a time of 30.72 seconds. He then bettered his own personal best in 2015 by one mili second. He clearly wasn’t done breaking records, in the same year he set the current standing record of 30.68 seconds. It won’t be a surprise if this record isn’t broken sometime in the near future by this wonder boy in the pool. There would not have been any arguments for the national selectors to against selecting him to represent the country at the South Asian Games in the 50m and 100m breast stroke events.

Kanitha is under the watchful eyes of a coach and his idol who himself has won 20 SAF medals, is a 3 time Olympian and is considered one of the highest achievers in the sport. Mr. Julian Bowling mentors this young yet prospective athlete as he works towards his goal of being a professional swimmer. “So far I have achieved what I have planned, next is for me to work on the 100m and set the national record” he said with a grin.

When I threw in the question of his most fond memory it took him a few minutes, couldn’t blame him, for sure he has tons of fond memories from the swimming arena. However “setting the national record thrice while, also winning the National title and winning the overall championship for school in 2012 will always hold a special place in my heart” he decided finally.

“Sri Lanka has come a long way in Swimming from where it used to be. We were nowhere a few years back when compared to other countries but, today we have great athletes in the likes of Mathew Abeysinghe, we have Olympic B cut timings, compared to the previous years we have come a long long way”

he commented when speaking of the current state and future of the sport.  Sri Lanka who has gained major honors in recent times especially in the South Asian region boasts of many accolades and passionate athletes yet, it is a state of question as to why these athletes give up their careers half way down the line.

Kanitha finds himself juggling between his passion for Swimming while, he reads for his Bachelors in International Business, “if you have a passion it’s not so difficult balancing anything”. You would rarely see this young man partying on a Friday night as many others his age do, he would be sound asleep by the time his friends leave their houses. With a 12 session training schedule which includes 6 morning pool sessions, 4 evening pool sessions and 2 gym sessions you can’t help but understand that this guy’s life is Swimming.

During his time in school, Kanitha was bestowed with the nickname of “Maaluwa” which in English translates to fish. You wouldn’t be surprised by this choice as most of his friends knew that young Munasinghe was a guy who was always in the water, either training or competing in Swimming or Water polo.

Kanitha really does take the verse “Eat, Swim, Sleep Repeat” to another level. The level of determination and discipline he shows undoubtedly has brought this athlete close to his dream of qualifying for the Commonwealth games and eventually the Olympics.

On an ending note he wished to thank a few close to his heart for all the support through the years. His parents for the unparalleled sacrifices made, Mr. Julian Bolling his coach and all the assistant coaches. The Navy Aquatic coach Cpt. Jayantha Gamage and the Navy Swimming and Water polo teams. Mr. Jehan Mubarak who coached him at Royal and all the seniors who supported and guided him. Royal College for the foundation it set him for all his achievements and finally the bunch from where he got his nickname “Maaluwa”; The Royal College prefects Council of 2013/14 for being his personal cheering squad through thick and thin and supporting him right through.

With the SAF games nearing we would like to extend our warm wishes to Kanitha and the Sri Lankan team from ThePapare.com to bring glory to our mother land and it also gives me great pride to see a dear friend of mine bare the National flag on his chest. We wish him all the best.