Sri Lanka’s new teenage swimming sensation MF Muhammad of Zahira College made waves yet again at the 48th National Age Group Swimming Championship clinching his third new meet record and securing his fifth gold medal in the competition at the Sugathadasa Swimming Pool yesterday.
The young athlete achieved this feat by setting a new meet record in the boys Under-17 100m Breaststroke event on the tournament’s fourth day.
Clocking in at an impressive 1:08.28 in the boys Under-17 100m Breaststroke final, Muhammad shattered his own previous record of 1:11.47 set last year. Notably, Richmond College’s MM Boomikethu claimed the silver medal while also surpassing the previous meet record, clocking 1:10.20.
Serena Saroha from Aqua Dragon Colombo swims to win the 50 metre Butterfly event in the girls Under-13 category (Pic: Chinthaka Kumarasinghe)
Muhammad’s outstanding performance extends beyond this event. He has now accumulated five gold medals in total, setting up three new meet records in the Under-17 50m Breaststroke,100m Breaststroke and 200m Breaststroke categories, along with victories in the 400m Individual Medley and 50m Butterfly events.
In another remarkable display of talent, Rushalee Dissanayake of Musaeus College shattered the girls Under-15 1500m Freestyle meet record by a remarkable five-second margin. Dissanayake clocked in at 20:02.25, erasing the previous record of 20:27.99 set seven years ago by A Kalyanasundaram of Lyceum International Wattala.
Syesha Anthony of Rainbow Aquatics continued to dominate, setting her second new meet record in the competition.
Yesterday she established a new benchmark in the girls Under-17 50m Butterfly event, clocking 29.87 and surpassing the previous record of 30.67 set in 2016 by Hiruni Perera.
Chanudi Kumarapperuma of Lyceum International School Nugegoda, who secured the silver medal, also surpassed the previous meet record with a time of 30.32.
Adding to the list of record-breakers, Maheli Navithma of St. John’s Girls School Panadura set a new meet record by clinching the gold medal in the girls Under-11 100m Breaststroke. Navithma clocked 1:35.41, erasing the previous record of 1:36.72 set in 2018 by Risandi Kulathilaka.
The excitement of the 48th National Age Group Championship will continue today with the fifth and final day of events promising more thrilling performances and possible record-breaking feats.
