Matthew Abeysinghe is a Sri Lankan medal winning swimmer who has represented his country at numerous international competitions. He is the current Sri Lankan record holder in the 50m freestyle (23.62), 100m freestyle (50.53), 200m freestyle (1:52.14), 400m freestyle (4:03.90), 1500 freestyle (16:23.61), 50 backstroke (26.94), 200 individual medley (2:07.33), 400 individual medley (4:40.47) and 100m butterfly (54.71). He also hold all the freestyle sc national records and many other as well. He was the leading gold medalist at the 12th South Asian Games for Sri Lanka in India. He represented Sri Lanka in the Youth Olympics in 2014 and was ranked 13th overall in Boys’ 100-metre freestyle and 15th in the Boys’ 200-metre freestyle. He became the first Sri Lankan swimmer in history to earn a FINA World Championships qualifying standard.
2016 South Asian Games
With 7 gold medals 2 silver and 1 bronze (10 medals at 11 events) in 2016 South Asian Games, Abeysinghe broke the record for most gold medals in South Asian Games by a Sri Lankan, previously set by Julian Bolling back in 1991 South Asian Games.
2016 XXXI Summer Olympics
Abeysinghe is the 1st swimmer ever qualify under the Olympic Standard(B) to represent Sri Lanka in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games from August 5th to 22nd.
Personal life
Matthew Abeysinghe was a student of Asian International School Colombo, and is coached by his father Manoj Abeysinghe. His brothers Andrew, Dillon and Kyle Abeysinghe all represented Sri Lanka and together they hold the Sri Lankan national record for the Men’s 4×50 Medley Relay.
National and International Awards
- Winner Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year for sports in 2016.
- Winner Most Outstanding Sportsman of the Year 2106 -Presidential Sports Award
Facebook Comments