Minagi Rupesinghe of Killer Whale Aquatics (KWA) continued her record-breaking spree at the National and Junior National Short Course Swimming Championship by sinking the eight-year-old women’s 800m freestyle record on the fourth day at the Isipathana College Swimming Pool Complex yesterday.
Rupesinghe clocked an impressive 9:29.51, slicing more than four seconds off the previous mark of 9:33.04 set by Ishani Senanayake in 2016. This was the UK-based 19-year-old’s second national record of the meet having set a new women’s 1500m freestyle record on day three.
Unattached foreign swimmer Zoe Tollit continued her dominance in the Girls’ Under-15 age group, surpassing Sri Lanka’s national records in five events so far. She clocked 2:44.99 in the 200m breaststroke, eclipsing the previous junior national record of 2:54.86 set by Neoma Kahandawa of KWA.
Musaeus College’s Under-15 200m medley relay team also left their mark, setting a new junior national record with a time of 2:16.60, breaking Lyceum International School’s (Wattala) 2019 record of 2:17.28.
The winning quartet featured Senuki de Silva, Naduli Gamage, Rushalee Dissanayake, and Sandithi Ekanayake, who had already set a new 400m freestyle relay junior national record earlier in the meet.
The five-day championship concludes today, with the finals starting at 3 pm followed by the awards ceremony.
