The 79th Mount Lavinia Two-Mile Sea Swim ends successfully

Celebrating 210 years of history and colonial heritage, Mount Lavinia Hotel was the proud host of the 79th Mount Lavinia Two Mile Sea Swim. Organised by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union, the event was held on 5 and 6 March with over 1500 participants aged between 12 to 70 years.

The Men’s Individual Championship was bagged by S. T. Udayanga De Silva of Madampa Central College whilst Uththama Silva of Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy won the Women’s Individual Championship. The Mount Lavinia Challenge Trophy for the Men’s Team Championship went to Sri Lanka Army who also won the trophy for the Highest Aggregate Point Score, and Mahamaya College Kandy won the Women’s Team Championship.

In the Under-15 category, Lakshika Sudusinghe of Dewananda College was placed first among the girls whilst Nuvinu Perera of S. Thomas’ College won the Boys Under-15 category. The Team Championship for the Under-15 event was awarded to Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy and St. Joseph’s College, Colombo.

The awards for the Differently-Able Swimmer, Oldest Woman Swimmer and  Oldest Man Swimmer went to W. K. S Viduranga of Sri Lanka Army, G. H. Nandani of Civil Security Department and S. M. Chandrapala of Kinross Swimming and Life Saving Club respectively.

The Mount Lavinia Two-Mile Sea Swim boasts being one of the oldest open water competitions in the Asian region, and has been continuously hosted by Mount Lavinia Hotel. The inaugural race was swum on a straight course from the beach opposite Boswell Place in Wellawatte to the Mount Lavinia Hotel Bay on a Sunday morning in March 1938. The course was later changed from the bay to a point closer to the Dehiwala Bridge and back.

Over the decades, many gifted swimmers have made their mark at this event. Douglas Arndt of Otters Aquatic Club created history, winning the event for six consecutive years from 1946 to 1951. He continued to take part in the race for 20 years, a record matched only by Mike Sirimanne of Kinross Swimming Club. In 1945, Dennis Walden became the first woman to enter the race. She was awarded a special trophy for completing the course under difficult conditions although her performance was not recognised under the prevailing rules of the meet. The separate event for women was first introduced in 1958 and has continued to be part of the race since. The Mount Lavinia Challenge Trophy for the team scoring the highest aggregate points was introduced in 1950.