Seneshi and Oneli win
Long distance swimmer Seneshi Herath recorded a hard fought victory in the Open Women’s title and Oneli Yahampath won the Junior Girls title in the 83rd Two-Mile Sea Swim organized by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLAASU) on day one of the competition in Mount Lavinia yesterday.
Herath, a student of Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo, overcame challenging conditions to finish the two-mile course in 1 hour 01.20 minutes at the picturesque Mount Hotel Bay in the morning.
While Yahampath of Lyceum International School, Nugegoda won the Junior Girls category, Bihandu Hansana of Sri Devananda College, Ambalangoda won the Junior Boys Championship.
The swimmers set out at 8am and Herath, who kept the momentum from the start, clinched the race with her experience having won last year’s Ambalangoda Two-Mile Sea Swim.
Two southerners from the coastal belt, Anarkali de Silva of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda finished the race three minutes later in 1:01.23 while Shehara Anuhasni of Sri Devananda College clocked 1:02.03 to win third place.
Sri Lanka’s pinnacle open water swimming event, regarded as one of oldest Sea Swim events in Asia, showcased the country’s top and emerging open water swimming talents this year, attracting 202 women and 177 men swimmers.
The Open Women, Junior Girls and Junior Boys events was completed on the opening day. The Men’s Open category event is scheduled for today in Mount Lavinia.