Unamboowe aims personal best

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from England

Sri Lanka’s ace swimmer Heshan Unamboowe said that he will make every effort to better his personal best at the forthcoming Olympic Games swimming competition which begins on Saturday.

Sri Lanka national champion Unamboowe, who has been on a training cum competition stint in Melbourne for over an year is in good shape and is roaring to set a new Sri Lanka record in men’s 100m back stroke. He is due to compete in the first round qualifiers of his pet event on Sunday (29).

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News at Athletes Village of the London Games, Unamboowe said he has been training hard for the last several months. “I am looking forward to set a new Sri Lanka record in my event and the chances are pretty good,” he said.

Unamboowe said the level of competition is very high but will do his best to come out with a notable performance and better his own Sri Lanka record. “The atmosphere is great and all of us are enjoying the true spirit of Olympics. We are looking forward to make our presence felt,” he added.

Besides Unamboowe, who clocked his personal best timing of 57.47 seconds during the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China last year, the only other Lankan swimmer to be seen in action during the London Olympics is Reshika Udugampola who too is determined to set a new Sri Lanka record.

Unamboowe is housed in the same room at the Athletes Village with the overall captain of the Sri Lanka contingent Niluka Karunaratne. Sri Lanka’s undisputed men’s singles badminton champion arrived here yesterday from Warsaw, Poland where he honoured the final leg of his competition cum training series abroad. Karunaratne is keen on improving his world rankings and hopes to get into the top ten in the world within the next two years. Hurdler Sonali Christine Merril arrived here from United Sates to join her team at the Athletes Village. Sri Lanka marathon runner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray, who has been training aborad, is yet to join the team in London.

Cooray, the senior most competitor in the Sri Lank contingent, represented Sri Lanka at the Athens 2004 Games in Greece. He will be seen in action in men’s marathon on the final day of the Games - August 12.

Meanwhile, the men’s football tournament of the London Olympics begins on Thursday with Honduras meeting Morocco in the curtain raiser game. There are seven other first round qualifiers down for decision in the same afternoon.

The pick of Thursday’s eight games will be the be the game between Mexico and South Korea which will be followed by the third match for the day between Spain and Japan.

London’s famous Big Ben too will play a part as the British capital becomes the only city to host three Olympic Games. To herald the first day of the London 2012 Games on Friday (27), at 8.12a.m. Big Ben and thousands of bells across the UK will ring out as loudly as possible for three minutes to welcome the Games. The Flame resumed its journey today at Headstone Manor, Harrow, carried by borough resident Jo Hyams, 29. Jo was nominated for her extensive charity work, organising and participating in a huge number of events. On Day 68 the torch relay today, the Olympic Flame travelled 30.48 miles from Harrow to Haringey, and be carried by 153 torchbearers.

On its journey to Haringey, the flame visited Wembley Arena, the venue for the London 2012 Badminton competition, where it was carried by Nathan Robertson, mixed doubles badminton silver medallist at Athens 2004. The flame also visited nearby Wembley Stadium, venue for the London 2012 Football competition, where it was carried by Gordon Banks, one of England’s greatest ever goalkeepers and a 1966 World Cup winner. As the Relay came to rest at lunchtime, the oldest female torchbearer on the relay, Diana Gould, aged 100 years, met the Mayor of London Boris Johnson after she carried the Olympic flame to Middlesex University.

Other torchbearers who were seen in action today included British actor Rupert Grint, best known as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, singer Eliza Doolittle, and Jack Otter, a soldier who was wounded by an IED whilst on patrol in Afghanistan. Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson, who used to train at Haringey Athletics club, took the flame as the last torchbearer of the day. Daley was the first person ever to hold world, Olympic, Commonwealth and European titles at the same time, as well as the world record in Decathlon. He lit the celebration cauldron on stage at the evening celebration that took place at Alexandra Palace.

LONDON, Wednesday