(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Leading Aircraftman Roshan Abeysundara of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has set a new world record swimming across Palk Strait from Talaimannar to Dhanushkodi and back in 28 hours.
The 32-year-old swimmer took 28 hours, 19 minutes and 58 seconds to swim from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to the coast of Dhanushkodi, Rameshwaran in India and back covering a distance of 59.3 kilometers.
Abeysundara enters the record book breaking the 50 year old record set by Sri Lankan swimmer V.S. Kumar Anandan in 1971 by swimming the distance in 51 hours.
During his preparation for the event, Abeysundara a product of Matara Central College renewed the National open water swimming record twice within a short time period.
He created a new record by swimming a 25Km distance from Matara to Koggala on January 3, 2021 clocking a time of 10 hours and 37 minutes and went on to renew the record by swimming a distance of 49Km from Matara to Hikkaduwa and back to Unawatuna on 27 February 2021 with a timing of 23 hours and 10 minutes, the Air Force said.
Leading Aircraftman Abeysundara is a Level III swimming instructor affiliated to American Swimming Coaches Association and has undergone training from the legendary Julian Bolling. He is an experienced life guard who has obtained the Level II standard from Sri Lanka Life Saving.
Born 1989 in the Southern coastal city of Talalla, Leading Aircraftman Abeysundara is a born swimmer whose forte being open water swimming. He entered competitive swimming as a schoolboy at the Matara Central College.
