FLORIDA, USA, May 25 (ePRESS) – Sri Lankan swimmer Dilanka Shehan produced a historic performance by setting a new Sri Lanka national long course record in the men’s 800m freestyle at the 2026 Terrapin Invite held at the Boca Raton High School Aquatic Complex in Boca Raton, Florida, United States on Saturday.
The 26-year-old clocked an impressive 8 minutes and 45.06 seconds to erase the previous national record of 8:49.80 set by Anusara Abeygoonawardena of Killer Whale Aquatics (KWA) in 2022.
Shehan also secured the bronze medal in the highly competitive event, improving the previous four-year-old national mark by 4.74 seconds in a remarkable swim against an international field.
A total of 41 swimmers competed in the event. Vitaly Kostin won the gold medal with a time of 8:39.42, while Maximiliano Paccot claimed the silver medal after finishing in 8:40.86 ahead of Sri Lanka’s Shehan.
The achievement marked another proud moment for Sri Lankan swimming as Shehan continued to raise the country’s standards on the international stage with a memorable record-breaking effort in the United States.
