Mathew breaks Bolling's 26-year-old record

Sajeewa JAYAKODY

Sri Lanka's star swimmer 16-year-old Mathew Abeysinghe set a new national record in the 400 metres Individual Medley on Friday at the National Swimming Championship which continued at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo.

The Asian International School swimmer clocked 4.47.06, breaking the previous national record of 4.48.32 set up by the country's ace swimmer Julian Bolling in 1986 at the Asian Games in South Korea.

“It is sad to see my records being broken. That's how the game goes on. But I witnessed how fast I have swum when I was swimming in my days,” said Bolling, who won six Gold medals in the 1991 SAF Games in Sri Lanka.

Abeysinghe, who arrived in Sri Lanka in 2010 after a successful coaching stint in United States of America, hopes to win a Gold medal in the 400m Individual Medley event in the next Asian Games.

“I trained hard in the 400m Individual Medley and hopefully to win a Gold Medal in the next Asian Games, said Abeysinghe, who represents Killer Whale Aquatics Clubs.