Akalanka Peiris established a new national record over his record in the Men’s 50m Backstroke event with a time of 25.86 seconds, bettering the previous record by 0.15 seconds at the World Aquatic Championships – Doha 2024. Peiris ranked overall 22nd making it the highest position for Sri Lanka in Doha 2024.
An aquatic team of 6 athletes: 4 swimmers, one open-water swimmer, and a diver represented Sri Lanka in Doha 2024.
Firstly, the Sri Lankan National Diver Dulanjan Fernando, in his debut appearance at a World Championship, competed in the Men’s 1m springboard event, finishing overall 44th with 150.40 points. Fernando also competed in the Men’s 3m springboard event and ranked overall 68th with 180.25 points.
Sri Lanka’s Men’s 5km open water champion Dilanka Shehan raced in the Men’s 5km open water event and placed 66th overall with a new personal best time of 1:00:42.90.
The swimming events started on the 11th of February, and the Sri Lankan swim squad of Akalanka Peiris, Kyle Abeysinghe, Ganga Senevirathne, and Hiruki De Silva concluded their events yesterday on a high note.
Peiris, along with his new record in the Men’s 50m Backstroke event, also competed in the Men’s 100m Backstroke event, finishing overall 40th with a time of 57.52 seconds.
Kyle Abeysinghe made a comeback in the international swimming arena after a long break at the World Aquatics Championship 2024 in both Men’s 100m and 50m Freestyle events. Abeysinghe swam a time of 50.99 seconds in the 100m Freestyle event, finishing 41st in the overall ranking and swam a time of 23.45 seconds in the 50m Freestyle, ranking 48th.
Ganga Senevirathne, the current fastest Sri Lankan female backstroker, competed in Women’s 100m and 200m Backstroke events. Senevirathne finished overall 38th in the 100m Backstroke with a time of 1:04.93 seconds. She also swam the 200m Backstroke event in 2:29.23 seconds and placed 31st in the overall ranking.
Hiruki De Silva, the youngest participant from Sri Lanka, swam a new personal best time of 2:10.00 in the women’s 200m Freestyle event, finishing 39th in ranking. She also swam the Women’s 100m Freestyle event in 59.85 seconds, ranking 45th in the list.
Another highlight in Doha 2024 for the aquatic world is the renewal of the Men’s 100m Freestyle world record with a new time of 46.80 seconds on the 1st day of the competition itself by 19-year-old Pan Zhanle from China at the 1st leg of the Men’s 4*100m Freestyle relay.
The next international appearance of Sri Lanka Aquatics will be at the 11th Asian Age Group Aquatic Championships in New Clerk City, Philippines, from 26th February to 09th March 2024.
