Kandy, Dec 28, Thu – Mihith Ekneligoda, a 14-year-old student from Ananda College, made a splash on the third day of the Sri Lanka Senior and Junior National Swimming Championship held at the Hillwood College Swimming Pool in Kandy on Thursday, breaking not one but three long-standing Junior National Records.
In a remarkable feat, Ekneligoda shattered a nine-year-old junior national record in the boys under-15 50m butterfly final, clocking an impressive 26.80. This surpassed the previous record of 27.13 set by the renowned swimmer Akalanka Peiris of St Peter’s College in 2014.
Not content with just one record, the Ananda College swimmer, who trains under Head Coach Nishantha Kumarapperuma, continued his winning streak by breaking the boys under-15 100m backstroke record with a time of 1:00.67. This erased the previous record of 1:00.98 set by Adeetha Siriwardena of Wesley College just last year.
This achievement marked Ekneligoda’s third new junior national meet record, as he had already shattered the boys under-15 50m backstroke junior national record on the second day of the championship, clocking 27.63 seconds. This broke the previous record of 28.47 set by Adeetha Siriwardena of Wesley College last year.
But Ekneligoda’s triumph didn’t end there. He anchored the Ananda College under-15 400m freestyle relay quartet to victory, securing a gold medal with a new meet record by six seconds. The quartet, comprising AH Natheesha, TT Wickramaratne, NN Dabare, and Mihith Ekneligoda, clocked an impressive 3:58.95, breaking the previous record of 4:04.74 set by Lyceum International School Nugegoda in 2019.
With this remarkable victory, Ekneligoda has now won three individual gold medals, each accompanied by a new meet record, and one relay gold medal—a total of four gold medals with four new junior national records. His outstanding performance continues to be a highlight of the championship, showcasing his exceptional talent in the pool.
