Sri Lanka’s “golden boy,” double Olympian, and the utmost athlete in South Asian Games history, Matthew Abeysinghe, will take to the pool for the last time at the Sri Lanka Long Course National Championship. Prepared by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU), the event will be held at the Sugathadasa Stadium Swimming Pool in Colombo, starting today.
In his 14-year national swimming career, Matthew has won 14 gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal in just two editions of the South Asian Games (SAG) in 2016 and 2019. This exceptional feat has made him the most ornamented athlete in SAG history. Swimming experts often wonder how many more medals he could have won if the SAG had been held continuously.
The 28-year-old freestyle professional holds the most Long Course national records in Sri Lanka. Out of 20 records, he has nine under his belt. Matthew signified Sri Lanka in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
This year’s Long Course National Championship will run for five days, from today pending July 28 (Sunday). SLASU invites all swimming fanatics and fans to cheer for Matthew Abeysinghe, who will represent his team, Killer Whale Aquatics (KWA), in his farewell competition.
Last year, KWA won both the Men’s and Women’s Senior National Championships for several successive years. St. Joseph’s College and Lyceum International School Gampaha arose as the Junior National Champions. All heats will start at 8:30 AM, with the finals scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM each day.
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