The Sri Lankan swimming sensation, Matthew Abeysinghe renewed his National record on the opening day for the swimming contingent at the Asian Games, Jakarta Indonesia.

Akalanka takes A/L’s amidst Asian Games

Akalanka Peiris of St. Peter’s College Colombo sat for his first examination paper of the Advanced Level examination

The 13-record holder, swam his first race at the Asian Games this morning in the Men’s 200m Freestyle event and finished with a time of 1:50.97 minutes in the heats but missed out on qualifying for the final.

“This wasn’t my best event, I still have my best events to come and I think I can make the finals in all of them. If I make the finals, would be nice to win a medal as it would be the first time a Sri Lankan has ever won a medal at the Asian Games. That’s my goal” said Matthew Abeysinghe to ThePapare reporter, after his event.

Abeysinghe who swam the 3rd heat, finished 6th with his timing. Kavindra Nugawela finished on top of his heat with a timing of 1:56.01 minutes but evidently missed the final mark as well. Abeysinghe saw himself with a 12th place finish in the overall standings while Nugawela takes home 26th place.

Overall Standings of the Men’s 200m Freestyle – Heats

King of Fly, Cherantha De Silva also swam his first race a short while ago in the Men’s 200m Butterfly event. De Silva finished 4th in heat 4, with a timing of 2:05.90 minutes. Cherantha finished 14th in the overall standings and will miss out on the finals.

Overall Standings of the Men’s 200m Butterfly – Heats

Akalanka Peiris will take to the pool for his first event, Men’s 50m Backstroke, tomorrow the 20th August in Heat 4. The race will commence at 8:22am SL time.

Stay logged on to ThePapare.com for real-time updates on the swimmers journey at the Asian Games, 2018.

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