Mayumi on course for Olympics

Chris Dhambarage

Sri Lanka's swimming sensation Mayumi Raheem is well set to qualify as a wildcard entry for the Beijing Olympic Games in August following a series of outstanding performances in the recent past.

The final trial to select the second swimmer who will represent the country at the Olympic Games will take place on June 13 at the Sugathadasa Stadium pool under the supervision of the three member special committee appointed by the Minister of Sports and Recreation Gamini Lokuge.

The special committee comprise of Swimming Interim Committee President DIG Sirisena Herath, Director General Sports D. B. Dahanayaka and Director of Sports Science Institute B. L. H. Perera.

Mayumi Raheem's main rival at the trials will be Miniruwani Samarakoon who is another promising swimmer from Kandy. Fifteen year old Trinitian Heshan Unamboowa has already qualified to represent the country at the Games.

The wildcard entries are offered mostly to developing and underdeveloped countries in order to ensure a greater participation at the Olympic Games. In addition it would offer a life time opportunity for those promising competitors who do not have high level of sporting standards or facilities in their respective countries.

Mayumi Raheem first came into the limelight when she produced a splendid performance to win a bronze medal at the FINA World Championship meet worked off in Singapore in October last year.

She won the bronze medal in the women's 200 metres breast stroke event with a timeh of 2 minutes 37.48 seconds while bettering her Sri Lanka National Record of 2 minutes 50.52 seconds.

In the same tournament competing in the women's 50 metres breast stroke event she missed the bronze medal by 5/100ths of a second coming fourth with a timing of 00:34.03 seconds where she also bettered her own Sri Lanka National Record of 00:36.10 seconds.

In addition in the women's 100 metres individual medley event she clocked 01:09:27 seconds bettering the record held by her once again which stood at 01:12:24 seconds. This means that she was able to break five records in the 5 events she competed with four of her own records in Sri Lanka and a record held by Menaka de Silva.

In fact in 2007 Mayumi did not swim in any long course meets as she was under rehabilitation for the injury, but was able to make a comeback in a spectacular manner at the FINA Short Course Championships. Mayumi has swum in two meets on long course in March this year in Jakarta and Vietnam respectively.

When the South Asian Games were last held two years ago in Colombo, Mayumi Raheem stood above the rest where she bagged a total of ten medals including three gold medals, four silver medals and three bronze medals to emerge as the undisputed leader in the swimming events.