COLOMBO: (ePRESS) – Hiruki de Silva of Gateway College Colombo excelled on the opening day of the 29th Inter-International School Swimming Championship, breaking an 11-year-old record in the Girls Under-20 200m Individual Medley at the Sugathadasa Stadium Swimming Pool in Colombo yesterday. De Silva clocked a time of 2:30.87, smashing the previous record of 2:31.01 set by Machiko Raheem in 2013.
The two-day event, organized by the Asian International School, saw a total of 11 new meet records being set across various categories. De Silva’s achievement was one of the standout moments, but she was not alone in rewriting the record books. Neoma Kahandawa from Colombo International School, who claimed the silver medal in the same event, also bettered the previous meet record with a time of 2:39.94.
In the Boys Under-16 200m Individual Medley, Okitha Gunasekara of Elizabeth Moir School set a new record with a time of 2:19.18, surpassing the previous record of 2:20.75 set by Arukshan Pavalachandra in 2017. Meanwhile, Shaqib Riyaj of Stafford International School also made history, setting a new meet record in the Boys Under-20 200m Individual Medley with a time of 2:18.13, narrowly edging out Binura Thalagala’s 2023 record of 2:18.22.
Other record-breaking performances included Vinuka Dias of Lyceum International School, who clocked 32.35 seconds in the Boys Under-16 Breaststroke, breaking the previous record of 32.76 seconds set in 2015. Similarly, Vinul Senanayake of Wycherley International School set a new mark in the Boys Under-20 50m Breaststroke with a time of 31.36 seconds.
Lyceum International School’s Heshara de Silva set a new meet record in the Girls Under-14 100m Backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:14.94, while Sethun Rajapaksa of Lyceum Panadura erased the Boys Under-10 100m Freestyle record with a time of 1:15.45. Dulaksha Ganindu of Lyceum Ratnapura also set a new record in the Boys Under-14 100m Freestyle with a time of 59.12.
The Girls Under-16 100m Freestyle saw Yunaya Perera of Lyceum Ratnapura breaking the previous record by clocking 1:03.38. In the Boys Under-16 100m Freestyle, Okitha Gunasekara again made his mark, setting a new record with a time of 54.89.
In the only relay event to see a new record, the Mixed Open 4x100m Medley Relay, the Lyceum Wattala team set a new best time of 4:29.83, surpassing the previous record of 4:34.44 set by Gateway College in 2018.
