No short cuts for champ

Srian OBEYESEKERE

Heshan Unambuwa: a champion in the waters(above), and below with his swimming trophies.

Health reasons drove Heshan Unambuwa to take to swimming as a four-year old to get over the wheeze.

If the common illness that affects kids necessitated that Heshan take to the waters, today it has transformed him to be the country's foremost men's swimmer.

Swimming not only cured the youngster. It also influenced his parents that it was something good for little Heshan to continue with.

From there it was no stopping Heshan, who discovering an inborn talent, was quick to improve on it.

"It was not just talent, but training and efforts I made that have enhanced my performances," reflects the 17-year old from Kandy's Trinity College who has transcended to be Sri Lanka's national champion for three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008 as well as junior national champ the same number of years. And of course, the Grade-12 student is Sri Lanka's most potential international swimmer having won 13 medals from the South Asian Games in all. He is the No.1 rank in dolphin and 200, 100 and 50 metres events. And Heshan, whose pet events are the 50 m. freestyle, 50 m. backstroke and 100m. backstroke, says that even as a kid he had dreamed of becoming national champion. "And, that helped me along in so much that when I grew up into my teens I had an understanding of how to compete and win at the highest level," he recalls adding that he always looks at competitive swimming step by step which he quickly sets out to explain.

"You have to take event by event. If you aim high at once you can't be successful".

He was placed 27th in the 200 metres butterfly event at the World Championships in 2008 in what Heshan described as very highly competitive.

What is his secret at being Sri Lanka's No.1 swimmer? "There's no secret as such to it. It's purely dedication and love for the sport. Nobody can create it. It must come within you. If you are dedicated and train hard and you love the sport then it will get you to the top.

Heshan agrees that there is an abundance of swimming talent in the country. But what was lacking was the proper facilities for swimmer to train and prove themselves.

"There are many kids in the coastal areas. But they lack the basic training facilities and nutrition that takes to churn out a potential swimmer which is a drawback in unearthing the desired latent talent in the country," Heshan reflects with feeling for the sport.

Heshan is concentrating on the 2010 SAF Games and Asian Games and Commonwealth Games the same year.

But of course his cherished dream is to represent Sri Lanka at the 2012 London Olympics.

Heshan will be focusing on training shortly abroad in preparation for these big events, first in India and then in Australia.

Notably, Heshan loves rugby too which sport he took to as a kid at Trinity in his early years as he sets out to explain why he was not a rugby player instead of a swimmer today.

"Rugby clashed with my swimming which of course is my 'first love', reminisces the swimming champ with no regrets about giving up rugby.