Deshabandu Deshabandu ( si, දේශබන්දු, translit=dēśabandu; ta, தேசபந்து, translit=Tēcapantu, translation=Patriot) is the third highest Sri Lankan honours system, national honour awarded in Sri Lanka. It is awarded "for me ...

Julian Bolling (born 19 June 1966) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n medal-winning

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who has represented his country at numerous international competitions. He is fondly remembered as the poster boy of Sri Lankan swimming as well as the pin-up boy of Sri Lankan swimming in the 1980s. He has won 15 gold medals for Sri Lanka at the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

between

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. He also represented Sri Lanka at three Olympic Games, firstly at

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(USA) in 1984, then at

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

(South Korea) in 1988, and finally at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(Spain) in 1992. He was the first Sri Lankan ever to participate in three consecutive Olympics (1984, 1988 and 1992).

Biography

He is the son of Tara Bolling and cousin of Dipika Chanmugam, both of whom have represented Sri Lanka internationally. His mother and coach Tara Bolling née De Saram was a standout swimmer in the latter half of the 1960s represented Ceylon at the Tokyo Olympics. He was coached by his mother from 1982. His grandfather

Fredrick de Saram Colonel Frederick Cecil "Derek" de Saram, OBE, ED (5 September 1912 – 11 April 1983) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, a Ceylon cricket captain, and an officer of the Ceylon Army. He led the attempted military coup of 1962. Early life and educ ...

was a cricketer and renowned for having led the attempted military coup of 1962.

Career

He took up swimming while pursuing his education at Royal College and he first took part in an age group meet in India in 1979 which was his first major international exposure. He proved his mettle and stamped his authority with his two elder brothers Jeromy Bolling and David Bolling in the 1979 Indo-Sri Lankan-Bangladesh Swimming Triangular Meet. At Royal College, he was coached by G. A. Wilson from 1977 to 1982. He made his

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

debut during the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of ...

and gained sixth-place finishes in both men's 400m and 1500m freestyle events while securing a seventh-place finish in the men's 400m individual medley event. He also competed at the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games ( ko, 1986년 아시아 경기대회/1986년 아시안 게임, Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad ( ko, 제10 ...

. He graduated from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

and with a marketing degree from the

Clarion University Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion, also known as PennWest Clarion, is a public university campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania. Part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the institution was founded in 1867 and offers ...

in the US when he was on a scholarship in the USA. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1992 and worked in

American Express Bank American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation specialized in payment card industry, payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Man ...

for a brief stint before switching to Nestles. Bolling's best performance at an international meet was at the

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

where he won six gold medals. He was dubbed as South Asia's best swimmer following his medal galore at 1991 South Asian Games. Bolling claimed gold medals in men's 200 m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 200m butterfly, freestyle relay and 400m individual medley events during the 1991 South Asian Federation Games. It was revealed that he wanted to quit swimming altogether just two weeks prior to the 1991 South Asian Games, the event later turned out to be a great comeback for him personally amid all odds. He felt he had not enjoyed the sport due to undue pressure on him according to the level of expectations that the country had on him to win medals. His mother Tara managed to convince him to pursue the sport of swimming by giving him confidence. He also took water polo as a side hustle and competed in a water polo event held in Kolkata in November 1992 just after returning from Barcelona following the conclusion of the Summer Olympics. He also took part in an Asian waterpolo tournament in Thailand. His record for most gold medals in a single South Asian Games event was unbeaten until 2016 when Matthew Abeysinghe broke the record by winning seven golds in India. Bolling was honoured in 1988 by being awarded the

, which is the third-highest national honour awarded in Sri Lanka. He worked as a coach of Rainbow Aquatic Club and was also appointed as a member of the National Sports Council. In January 2022, he was elected as one of the committee members of the Sri Lanka Olympians.

Activism

In June 2022, he along with Transparency International Sri Lanka filed petition in the Supreme Court calling for stern action against 13 individuals claiming to be directly responsible for the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. On 17 August 2022, he was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (Sri Lanka) in order to record statements regarding his involvement in mass anti-government protests on 9 July 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolling, Julian Sri Lankan male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Sri Lanka Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1982 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1986 Asian Games Swimmers from Colombo Living people 1966 births Deshabandu South Asian Games gold medalists for Sri Lanka South Asian Games medalists in swimming