Roshan Abeysundara 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 airman and swimmer, who also currently holds the Asian record for swimming across the

Palk Strait The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්‍ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distric ...

as of April 2021.

Swimming career

Roshan pursued his career in competitive swimming as a schoolboy at the

Matara Central College Matara Central College is a mixed school in Matara City. It is located in Matara District, southern part of Sri Lanka. History Matara Central College was Established in 1932. It was populated as central college and now it is established as a ...

where he also completed his primary and secondary education. He has also obtained level II standard from Sri Lanka Life Saving, the national body for life saving and water safety related activities in Sri Lanka. He underwent training from the veteran Sri Lankan swimmer

Julian Bolling Deshabandu Julian Bolling (born 19 June 1966) is a Sri Lankan medal-winning swimmer 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 ...

. He is currently affiliated as a Level III swimming instructor with the American Swimming Coaches Association.

Palk Strait expedition

On 10 April 2021, Roshan intended to swim across Palk Strait starting from the point of

Talaimannar Talaimannar ( ta, தலைமன்னார்; si, තලෙයිමන්නාරම) is a settlement in Sri Lanka located on the northwestern coast of Mannar Island. Transport Sri Lanka's northern railway line was destroyed, disrupted o ...

at around Sri Lankan local time 2 am. He reached Danushkodi and in vice versa he swam from Danushkodi to Talaimannar covering distance of about 59.3 km with a record timing of 28 hours and 19 minutes. He also broke the 50 year old Asian record for completing Palk Strait expedition within a short time surpassing the record of 51 hours set in 1971 by fellow Sri Lankan swimmer

V. S. Kumar Anandan V.S. Kumar Anandan was a Guinness World Records holder. His one of many records include Swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to India and back in 51 hours, in the year 1971. Once he met with a motor vehicle accident and was hospitalize ...

Air force career

He joined the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

in 2008 as an Airman. He was of the rank of

Leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is a junior rank in some air forces. It sits between aircraftman and senior aircraftman, and has a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank badge is a horizontal two-bladed propeller. The ra ...

in 2021 at the time of his swim across Palk Strait. His expedition received adequate support and guidance from the Commander of the Air Force

Sudarshana Pathirana Air Marshal Sudarshana Karagoda Pathirana psc, is a senior Sri Lankan Air Force Officer. He is the current Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force. Born on 30 December 1965, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana is an alumnus of Dharmaraja College, ...

and following his accomplishment he was promoted to the rank of Corporal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeysundara, Roshan Living people Sri Lankan male swimmers Sri Lankan Air Force airmen 1989 births 2021 in Sri Lanka People from Southern Province, Sri Lanka