Matthew Abeysinghe’s most frightening moment

by Sajeewa Jayakody

Record setting Sri Lankan swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe had to throw in everything he had as he was faced with a choice to either give up anchoring the 4X100 relay event at the concluded South Asian Games in Guwahati, India or put an end to the seemingly eternal dominance of the host country.

Abeysinghe found himself virtually lost at the deep end, the last man while the rest of the competitors were way ahead when he took the final lap in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Exhausted after competing in two other events that day, Abeysinghe had only his country to think about and the trauma suffered at the hands of the Indians and gave it his greatest splash that he and everyone else who witnessed the saga will remember for the rest of their lives.

“It was the last leg of the relay, the anchor as it’s called, and when I dived into the water for my lap we were behind the Indians. I caught the Indian anchor on the first 50, but after already swimming two events on that day of the meet I was extremely tired and we stayed even on the third 25.

“I remember thinking at that point how many times in the past that India had beaten us in relays and that we Sri Lankans hadn’t had a victory in swimming against them in 25 long years.

“I had to do this for Sri Lanka. That thought was what enabled me to shift gears and leave the Indians behind me in the final 25 meters. The moment I touched the wall, celebrated with my teammates and the cheers I heard from every single one of the Sri Lankans in the crowd is a moment in my life I will never forget and my favourite memory from this South Asian Games”, said Abeysinghe.

Abeysinghe who revealed he “worked like a donkey” for success, set the ball rolling for Sri Lanka on the first day of the Games when he won gold in the 200 metres freestyle event and 20 minutes later was celebrating first place in the 100 metres butterfly. He had just 15 minutes to recuperate before the intimidating 4X400 relay.

“Within the span of around 40 minutes I was able to win three gold medals for Sri Lanka and I can remember after the relay thinking about how much all of the hard work had helped me.

“Over the next four days I was able to win four more gold medals in the 50 metres freestyle, the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 100 metres freestyle”, he recalled.