Remembering the legends:

Julian Bolling was a swimmer par excellence

It is time to remember athletes who brought honour and glory to Sri Lanka and it is for this purpose that Dialog Telekom in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Pubic Recreation pays tribute to over 200 athletes in over 15 disciplines on July 15 at the BMICH.

Dialog Telekom has been a prominent sponsor of Sri Lankan Sports and is committed to developing talent in Sri Lanka to international standards.

Hailing from a famous family of swimming stars, Julian Bolling started swimming at the age of ten simply because his parents thought he was underweight. His mother Tara was hailed as the ‘Wonderstar’ of swimming in Sri Lanka in the fifties and early sixties.

A swimming prodigy herself Tara Bolling who had represented Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Games and Asian during the 1950’s, was the main inspiration behind Julian taking to swimming. She was determined to take her youngest son under her wing and forge his destiny as Sri Lanka’s Golden Swimmer.

He first brought glory to his alma mater Royal College from 1977 to 1982 under the coaching of Mr E.G.A. Wilson, a famous national record holder in the 100m Back Stroke. From then on Tara took over the daunting task of training Sri Lanka’s next swimming miracle boy.

Julian proved his mettle in 1979 when he joined his two elder brothers to represent Sri Lanka in the Indo-Sri Lanka-Bangladesh Swimming Triangular Meet; He was just thirteen and he carried off the silver for the 1500 metres free-style.

He added further laurels to his collection of victories through 4 successive SAF Games from 1984 to 1991 and stands as the only Sri Lankan to participate in three consecutive Olympic Games - Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992.

Having obtained a Marketing Degree from the University of Clarion, Pennsylvania, Julian returned to Sri Lanka in 1992 to work for a multinational company.

Having a career in marketing sounded promising, but he realized that this was not his calling and ‘took to waters’ yet again.

He joined his parents who had founded the Rainbow Aquatic Club and began to give back to the sport that gave him so much.

The Rainbow Academy was established to train adults and children in swimming and life saving and while the Academy’s main aim was to teach children and adults to swim and save “souls from the water”, it also became the force behind future swimming legends who continued to bring victory to Sri Lanka in the international arena.

Following the devastation of the tsunami in 2004 Julian later joined “Swim Lanka” to help kids from the South who were traumatized from the tsunami to get over their fear of the sea and get back to leading normal lives. So far over 13,000 children have benefited from this programme.

With a collection of 15 Gold Medals while he was in competitive swimming Julian’s love for swimming never diminished and he continues to bring glory to Sri Lanka as a coach while giving back to the sport to date.