Trinity swimmers win nationals for the third time
S M Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Correspondent
Trinity College, Kandy created a new record when it won the National
Swimming Championship conducted by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU)
for the third time worked off at the Ananda College swimming pool in
Colombo recently.
The new record is that Trinity College is the first school to win the
National Swimming Championship for the third time. They won this in
2007, 2008 and 2011. In winning this title they had to compete with
schools, clubs and teams from the forces and some of the former top
swimmers from Trinity too swam for the other teams. Trinity’s fine
performance was spearheaded by Sri Lanka Captain Heshan Unamboowe when
he won five events and also towered two meet records and one of them had
the best timing for that event for the SAF games.
Incidentally Heshan Unamboowe is presently undergoing training in
Melbourne, Australia and had returned to his school during the off
training season. He hopes to return to Australia shortly.
His presence in the Trinity College swimming really propped up the
team’s performance.
Another achievement of Trinity College which is unparallel is that
they won the 4 x 200 metres free style relay for the sixth successive
year. The relay team members were skipper Lashan Senaratne, Migara
Hulangamuwa, Imuditha Athurupana and Heshan who did the last lap.
Taveesh Edissuriya too excelled by winning a gold in the 200 metre
breast stroke. Overall Shehan de Silva performed well along with Skipper
Lashan Senaratne, and Vice Captain Navin Diyakelinawa.
In this championship Trinity College totalling 182 points and
regaining the championship after a lapse of two years. In second place
was Royal College with 172 points. Finishing third was St. Joseph’s
College with 168 which indicates a closely fought battle. Trinity’s
swimming this year has been not what it had been in the past when they
swept the board winning championship after championship. But the return
of Heshan Unamboowe made all the difference but the efforts of other
swimmers should not be undermined and in the final reckoning it is the
team effort which brings championship title in a sport where every point
collected matters.
The team is coached by U. H. Pemlath with Welter Brown as master in
Charge.
The team receives all the guidance and encouragement from its
Principal Brigadier Udaya Ariyaratne. |