COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, August 7, 2025 (ePRESS) – In a thrilling start to the 49th Sri Lanka National and Junior National Aquatic Championship 2025, two of the country’s finest female swimmers, Minagi Rupesinghe and Ramudi Samarakoon of Killer Whale Aquatics (KWA), set the Sugathadasa Swimming Pool Complex alight with record-breaking performances that left the crowd breathless on opening day on Wednesday.
Minagi Rupesinghe, the reigning short course national champion and currently Sri Lanka’s best-performing female swimmer, broke an 11-year-old national record in the women’s 400m freestyle, while World Aquatic scholar Ramudi Samarakoon smashed the women’s 50m breaststroke record with authority, taking Sri Lankan women’s swimming to the next level.
The air was thick with excitement as swimmers walked onto the deck, their muscles warmed up, their focus sharp. The silence before the buzzer and the explosion of power off the blocks made it clear—this was no ordinary meet. These were national stakes, and Minagi and Ramudi did not disappoint.
Just 19 years old and fresh from representing Sri Lanka at the World Aquatics Championships, Minagi Rupesinghe of Killer Whale Aquatics (KWA) clocked 4:34.34 in the 400m freestyle final, slicing nearly three seconds off the long-standing national record of 4:37.30 set by Machiko Raheem of KWA in 2014.
Minagi’s performance showed a perfect blend of pacing and endurance. Starting steady, she accelerated in the final 150 metres, using her powerful underwater kicks and smooth freestyle technique to build a commanding lead.
Already the national record holder in the 800m and 1500m freestyle—both records she broke at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Israel—Minagi now holds all three middle-distance freestyle national records in Sri Lanka. She has cemented her status as the queen of distance freestyle in the country.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ramudi Samarakoon, also from KWA and a World Aquatic scholar in Hungary, showed her dominance in the breaststroke sprint. In the 50m breaststroke final, she clocked 33.65 seconds, erasing her own previous national record of 33.91 set in 2023.
Ramudi’s start was explosive, and her stroke rate was perfectly timed, gliding with strength and minimal resistance. With this win, she now holds the national records for 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke—a rare triple crown in Sri Lankan swimming.
Later in the evening, Minagi returned to the pool for the 200m backstroke final and delivered another sensational swim. Her technique in the backstroke was a lesson in grace and control, maintaining a strong bodyline and underwater phase. She won gold by a long distance, further proving her versatility and dominance.
On the junior side, Akalanka Nisal of St. Joseph’s College Colombo made an impact by setting a new junior national record in the boys’ 200m backstroke, clocking 2:19.48 to erase the previous mark of 2:21.08 set by KP Adithya in 2018.
Josephians also rewrote the record books in the under-15 boys’ 400m freestyle relay, finishing in 4:16.50, bettering their own 2024 mark. The team of Sakidu Piegera, Akalanka Nisal, Dinil Dassanayake, and Mark de Zylva showed incredible teamwork and precision in their changeovers.
Not to be outdone, Musaeus College’s under-15 girls smashed the junior national relay record in the 400m freestyle, clocking 4:33.30, edging out the previous record of 4:33.78 set by Lyceum International School Gampaha last year. The talented quartet included Rushalee Dissanayake, Naduli Gamage, Keyara Ranepura, and Senuki de Silva.
With four more days of action left at the Sugathadasa pool, the atmosphere is electric. Sri Lanka’s best swimmers are not just racing for medals—they’re pushing boundaries, rewriting history, and showing the nation what world-class swimming looks like.
