Sri Lankan swimmer Kyle Abeysinghe set a new national record in his 200m Individual Medley event at the FINA World Swimming Championships held at the Windsor International Aquatic & Training Centre, Canada while Kimiko Raheem bettered her national timings during the first day of the competition.

Kyle Abeysinghe and Kimiko Raheem for World Swimming Championships

Injured champion swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe’s absence will be clearly felt as Sri Lanka fields Kyle Abeysinghe and Kimiko Raheem.

Abeysinghe who swam his pet event the 200m Individual Medley at the world championships, finished 46th in the overall standings of the event. Being one of the youngest to swim the 200m IM, he finished the race with a timing of 2:04.17 minutes setting a new national best.

With this finish, he got his name into the record books as he finished the race with a timing better than the previous holder of the record; Heshan Unamboowe

Kyle will be swimming his freestyle events this evening.

Kimiko Raheem finished the 200m Freestyle with a timing of 2:05.97 minutes, earning her the 51st spot in the overall tally. She bettered her season best by two seconds as her earlier personal best read 2:07.83.

India dominates 1st ever South Asian Aquatic Championship

In the 100m Women’s Backstroke Kimiko finished with a timing of 1:02.70 minutes claiming the 44th spot in the overall standings. Kimiko bettered her own national record that she established at the 2016 South Asian Games which was 1:03.78.

Kimiko Raheem in action from the South Asian Aquatic Championship
Kimiko Raheem in action from the South Asian Aquatic Championship

Kimiko will be participating in the 50m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and the 100m Freestyle in the coming days of the championship.

Watch Kyle Abeysinghe’s 200m Individual Medley event

Video credit: Killer Whale Aquatics Facebook