Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Menaka Srimani de Silva |
National team | Sri Lanka |
Born | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 26 January 1985
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Freestyle |
Menaka Srimani de Silva (born January 26, 1985) is a Sri Lankan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. [1] She held a Sri Lankan record from the national championships in 2003 (28.28), until it was eventually broken by 13-year-old Kimiko Raheen nine years later (2012). [2]
De Silva qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an entry time of 28.48. [3] [4] She challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including 31-year-old Melanie Slowing of Guatemala. She raced to seventh place by two tenths of a second behind Nicaragua's Geraldine Arce in 28.93. De Silva failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed fifty-second overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries. [5] [6]
Martha Matsa is a Greek swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a member of the swimming team for HAN Thessaloniki.
Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, also known as Ragga Ragnars is an Icelandic actress and former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. She is a multiple-time Icelandic record holder in both long and short course freestyle. After retiring from swimming, Ragnheiður studied acting and played the role of Gunnhild on the TV series Vikings from 2018 to 2020.
Marina Vladimirovna Mulyayeva is a Kazakh former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and individual medley events. She is a six-time national record holder, a multiple-time ACC titleholder, and a one-time NCAA Honorable Mention All-American swimmer. Mulyayeva is also a varsity swimmer for the Maryland Terrapins and an international business major at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
Sandra Kazíková is a Czech former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She posted a long-course national record time of 25.99 seconds, by winning the 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Czech Winter Championships in Pardubice. Kazikova is also a member of the swimming team for Slavia VŠ Plzeň, and is coached and trained by Ivana Felgrova.
Yelena Alexeyevna Skalinskaya is a Kazakh former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and breaststroke events. She is a five-time national champion and record holder in the same stroke. Skalinskaya is a member of the swimming team for Maryland Terrapins, along with her fellow country teammate Marina Mulyayeva.
Agnese Ozoliņa is a Latvian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a three-time Olympian, a multiple-time Latvian and Baltic record holder, and a seven-time All-North Coast Atlantic Conference swimmer. She is also a varsity swimmer for the Kenyon Ladies, and an economics graduate at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
Pedro Nuno Gonçalves Conceição Silva is a Portuguese former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian and a former Portuguese record holder in the 50 m freestyle (22.86). Silva is a resident athlete for Sport Algés e Dafundo, and is trained by his long-time coach, director, and mentor Mário Madeira.
Maria Tregubova is a Moldovan former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian and a member of the swimming team for Olimpia Chişinău.
Melanie Slowing de Montenegro is a Guatemalan former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Slowing qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle, as a 31-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by breaking a Guatemalan record and posting a FINA B-cut of 26.89 from the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mexico City. She topped the fourth heat by less than 0.04 of a second ahead of Moldova's Maria Tregubova in 27.44. Slowing failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed forty-sixth overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries.
Roshendra Julienne Mercedes Vrolijk is an Aruban former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is one of Aruba's first Olympic swimmers, alongside Davy Bisslik, and also a two-time Olympian.
Jakie Kim Wellman is a Zambian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a high school graduate of Kelly College in Devon, England, and a member of the swimming team for the Missouri State Bears, while attending the Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, United States.
Geraldine Arce Vanegas is a Nicaraguan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Arce qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle, as a 16-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an entry time of 28.15. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including 31-year-old Melanie Slowing of Guatemala. She edged out Sri Lanka's Menaka de Silva to take a sixth spot by two tenths of a second (0.20) in 28.73. Arce failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed fifty-first overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries.
Sade Daal is a Surinamese swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Daal qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle, as a 15-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an entry time of 29.14. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including 31-year-old Melanie Slowing of Guatemala. She rounded out the field to last place in 29.27, just 0.13 of a second off her personal best. Daal failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed fifty-fourth overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries.
Eva Donde is a Kenyan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She held Kenyan records in long and short course 50 m freestyle, until they were both broken by Achieng Ajulu-Bushell in 2009. Donde is also a member of Otter Club, and is trained by her longtime coach Whitney Pragassa.
Ghazal El Jobeili is a Lebanese former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. El Jobeili qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an entry time of 31.42. She challenged six other swimmers in heat two, including 14-year-olds Sameera Al-Bitar of Bahrain and Christal Clashing of Antigua and Barbuda. She tied for first place with Al-Bitar in their personal bests of exactly 30 seconds. El Jobeili failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed sixty-third overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries.
Tracy Ann Route is a Micronesian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian, and holds numerous Pacific age group records in the freestyle and butterfly. She was the first woman to represent the Federated States of Micronesia at the Olympics.
Christal Ariana Clashing O'Reilly is an Antiguan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She also completed a Trans-Atlantic crossing as part of an all-woman team. As a one-time Olympian (2004), she is coached and trained by her mother Edith O'Reilly Clashing, who founded the Wadadli Aquatic Racers (WAR), an elite swim club in Antigua. Her sister Karin O'Reilly Clashing competed in the 50-metre freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Theekshana Ratnasekera is a Sri Lankan former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented Sri Lanka, as an 18-year-old teen, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also held numerous age group and meet records in a sprint freestyle. Ratnasekera lost the race in the pre-Olympic selection to Radiesha Daluwatte, the teenage daughter of former Sri Lankan army commander Rohan Daluwatte, and the General filed a petition in the Court of Appeals to challenge the sports officials' decision to send Ratnasekera to the Olympics.
Matthew Duncan Abeysinghe is a competitive swimmer who has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international competitions, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo respectively.
Cherantha De Silva is a Sri Lankan medal-winning swimmer, who has represented his country at 6 World Aquatics Championships, 3 FINA World Cup's, 2 Commonwealth Games(becoming a finalist), 1 Asian Games as well as 1 South Asian Games, winning 7 medals. De Silva shattered 10 Sri Lankan national records and 4 internationally recognized records . Further, De Silva qualified with 4 World championship B standards(B cuts) for the 2018, 14th FINA World Swimming Championships held in Hangzhou, China. He narrowly missed the A standard in the 50m Butterfly (SCM) clocking 23.48. While the A standard could have made history for Sri Lanka as the first Sri Lankan to achieve the A standard he missed it by 0.2 seconds. Also, De Silva was bestowed the "Best Sportsman of the Year" award at the school level, provincial and Sri Lanka school level.