Kyle Abeysinghe wins silver at Commonwealth Youth Games

Sri Lanka’s up-and-coming swimming prodigy Kyle Abeysinghe brought the country its first medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games held in the Bahamas, winning the silver medal in the men’s 100 metres freestyle yesterday.

The Commonwealth Youth Games, which started in Nassau in the Bahamas islands on 17 July with nine sporting disciplines, saw Sri Lanka fielding four swimmers: Vinoli Kaluarachchi, Dilrukshi Perera, Akalanka Peiris and Kyle Abeysinghe.

Abeysinghe, swimming the 100 metres freestyle event, made his way to the finals after finishing second in the fourth heat, clocking a time of 51.30 seconds.

Abeysinghe, who swam in the sixth lane in the final, was ahead of other swimmers and going into the final 20 meters it was a fight between him and Scott Mclay of Scotland. Abeysinghe finished second with a timing of 50.93 and was separated from the gold medal winner by milliseconds. Mclay won the gold medal with a timing of 50.46 seconds. (Source: www.thepapare.com)