A former Lieutenant Commander of the Navy, Ruwan Paul, made a name for himself setting up a record in an Australian Masters Power Lifting Championship held in Adelaide recently. Competing in the 120-weight category Paul lifted 220 kilograms to set this new record which bettered the earlier record which stood at 210 kgs.
With his record breaking achievement the Australian Power Lifting Federation has selected Paul to be a member of the Australian National Power Lifting team to represent Australia at the Masters Power Lifting Championships in the future.
Paul has achieved many firsts in Australia winning two gold medals and was also a competitor at the Asia Pacific Masters Championship and New Zealand Masters Championship. At the Asia Pacific Championship Paul was able to win two gold medals and the best achievement by him came when competing in New Zealand where he won three gold medals.
Paul who served in the Navy as an engineer, took up residence in Australia and is now keen with great hopes of promoting the sport in Sri Lanka.
Addressing the media in Colombo, 57-year old Paul said that he took to the sport only nine months ago and reached the record breaking achievements mainly due to his courage and dedication.
Paul said that he came back to Sri Lanka to help the younger generation get involved in the sport. He said that during his short stint in the sport he also followed a course in power lifting from which he was able to reach the highest level and the Australian Power Lifting Federation and the world body has accepted him as a qualified coach.
“I want to make good use of this qualification to promote the sport in Sri Lanka for which I had discussions with the local Federation. The Federation has accepted my request and gave me the green light to go ahead with the plan.
“I also have to consult the Ministry of Sports and hope to be back in the island in three months to finalise matters regarding the program,” said Paul.
He also said that the Australian Power Lifting Federation and the New Zealand Federation consented to provide financial and technical assistance for the coaching programs expected to be conducted in Sri Lanka.
They have shown a willingness to arrange international Championships in Sri Lanka which will be of great importance also for tourism promotion according to Paul.