Cherantha de Silva
Personal information
Full nameK. T. Cherantha Gihash De Silva
Nickname(s)"Cheran","Machine", "Cheriff"
National team Sri Lanka
Born (1996-07-12) 12 July 1996
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle and Butterfly
ClubThanyapura [1]
College teamKenyon College, Gambier
CoachMiguel Lopez
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Sri Lanka
2016 South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2016 Guwahati4 × 100m Freestyle
Silver medal – second place2016 Guwahati100m freestyle
Silver medal – second place2016 Guwahati200m Butterfly
Silver medal – second place2016 Guwahati4 x 100m Medley
Silver medal – second place2016 Guwahati4 x 200m Free
Bronze medal – third place2016 Guwahati100m Butterfly
Bronze medal – third place2016 Guwahati50m Butterfly

Cherantha De Silva (born 12 July 1996) 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, 1 Asian Games as well as 1 South Asian Games, winning 7 medals. De Silva broke 6 Sri Lankan national records and 4 internationally recognized records (more details below).[2][3] Further, De Silva qualified with 4 World championship B standards(B cuts) for the 2018, 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) held in Hangzhou, China. He narrowly missed the A standard (A cut) 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.[4] Also, De Silva was bestowed the "Best Sportsman of the Year" award at the school level,[5] provincial and Sri Lanka school level.

To top off his swim career De Silva earned a scholarship to study in the US at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. He earned a bachelors degree in Economics.

Collegiate career

At Kenyon College De Silva was also able to excel both academically, athletically, and in his professional career. As an Economics major[6] and Integrated Program in Humane Studies(IPHS) minor, De Silva was a multiple merit list awardee for distinguishing himself with academic success and the College recognizes this honor with a notation on his official transcript. De Silva went on to be inducted into the Alpha Iota Sigma honors society for his outstanding work in IPHS along with all other IPHS minors.[7] It is noteworthy that Kenyon is the most expensive college in the world as of June 20, 2023.[8]

Additionally, De Silva was able to conduct Kenyon's first Virtual Reality demo where he mentioned the following: " I want to revolutionize the traditional classroom in Kenyon College because I feel like in the 1980s we were using chalkboards and whiteboards, but now we’re using projectors and laptops."[9] De Silva found ways to study, perform in varsity elite sport as well as to contribute to Kenyon in various ways such as the above. In De Silva's junior year, he studied abroad in Milan, Italy, and Copenhagen, Denmark focusing on Entrepreneurship and Econometrics.[10]

Athletically De Silva performed at Kenyon's highest level at the NCAA Men's Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. He was able to become a 2-time NCAA National Champion and earned a total of 10X All-American titles, became an NCAC 2020 Conference Record Holder in 100Y Butterfly,[11] a Kenyon College Pool Record Holder in 4X100Y Individual Medley Relay, Kenyon College Varsity Record in the 4X50Y Medley Relay,[12] Kenyon College varsity Record in 50Y Butterfly,[12] a Toyota US Open Championships 2022 Qualifier in 100m fly and 50m free[13] and CSCAA Awardee in 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023.[14]

The 2023 NCAA Men's Division III Swimming and Diving Championships was De Silva's first and only NCAA participation. Due to the pandemic in the year 2020—which stemmed from COVID-19—the previous NCAA championships was canceled. In his Junior year, he studied abroad. Further, in 2020, De Silva qualified for the 2020 NCAA Men's Division III Swimming and Diving Championships as a strong contender who already had his meters to yards converted time(at the time) faster than the NCAA DIII national record in the 100y butterfly and was the reigning NCAC champion going into NCAA's: however, the event was canceled 4 days prior to the meet.

2023 NCAA Men's Division III Swimming and Diving Championships

De Silva became a 2XNCAA national champion[15] and was bestowed 5XAll American titles at this competition. He competed in the 100y butterfly, 100y freestyle, and 50y freestyle where he swam best times in all of them going 46.95, 43,84, and 19.83 (and 19.33 off a relay start) seconds respectively.[16]

Filmography

De Silva had the honor to be a part of the so-called world's first swimmer's movie. Named "Lane zero-The Lane of Dreams" showcases his and his team member's preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The director of this award-winning documentary named Manuel Tera describes the documentary like this "A feature-length documentary about the struggle of a group of swimmers from developing nations trying to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time. A story about pursuing your dreams and overcoming adversity."[17] The Documentary has been nominated at the sports film festival in Italy[18] and it was able to secure an award for "The Best Sound". At present, the documentary has been sold to North and South America as well as a few countries in Europe.

Storyline A group of swimmers from developing nations train hard at a state-of-the-art sports center in Thailand. Working for the first time with proper facilities and under the guidance of a world-class coach, they are making amazing progress and improving on their personal best each time. They have one year left in order to qualify for the Olympics. For most of them, it would be the first time somebody from their country gets through on their own merit. In a country full of inaccessible swimming pools, Shajan and Sajina are two Maldivian sisters who train in the sea. Nepalese Sofia can only swim during the summertime because there are no heated pools in the Himalayas. Eroi is a Rwandese boy who trains in a lake watching Internet videos. These are just some of the characters of Lane 0, a story about those unknown athletes who race in the side lanes and always finish last. Now they are immersed in an experience that will change their lives forever.[19]

Professional Swim Career

World Aquatics Championships

2013 4th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships-Dubai

De Silva participated in 2 events 50m Freestyle clocking 24.32 and 100 Butterfly clocking 57.79.[20]

2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)-Doha

De Silva subsequently competed in the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships held in Doha, Qatar, where he swam in the heats of the Open 50m butterfly, Open 100m butterfly, Open 50m freestyle and Open 100m freestyle.[21]

2015 16th FINA World Championships-Kazan

De Silva participated in the 2 men 2 women mixed relay team.[22]

2017 17th FINA World Championships-Budapest

Having been able to compete in the 50m Butterfly as well as the 100m Butterfly event he was able to secure a world ranking of 49 and 55 with a time of 25.15 and 55.09 respectively.

2018 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)- Hangzhou

"Of the two men and two women swim team, Cherantha De Silva, Thimali Bandara and Savindi Jayaweera took the pool on the opening two days of the championship but had to hit the hay when they failed to advance to the semifinals amidst fierce competition."[23][24]

2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) - Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

De Silva competed in the 100m Butterfly and Freestyle representing Sri Lanka.[25][26]

2014 Commonwealth Games- Glassgow

De Silva participated at 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, competing in the 50m and 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly but failed to progress past the heats.[27]

2016 South Asian Games - Guwahati

In 2016 De Silva participated at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, India where he won one gold, four silver and two bronze medals.[28]

2017 7th National Short Course Swimming Championship- Singapore

In December 2017, De Silva was able to set history for Sri Lanka by breaking a foreign national record. De Silva was able to shatter Singapore Olympian Quah Wen Zeng's 50-m butterfly record, thus renewing it to 23.48 seconds.[29] (He broke the Singapore national record and Sri Lankan national record, as well as set a new meet record in this race.) The specialty of De Silva's performance was that he was able to break 11 records across 10 events(heats and finals) in just two days. (record summary: Combination of heats, finals, and a meet record.)[30]

2018 Commonwealth Games- GoldCoast

In February 2018, de Silva was named to Sri Lanka's 2018 Commonwealth Games team.[31][32] This was his 2nd representation of the Commonwealth Games edition. Cherantha was part of 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team that made history for Sri Lanka by advancing in to the finals. "The 4-man swim team representation in the Gold Coast, powered their way through to the final of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle event earlier this morning."[33][34] However, the team had met with an unexpected incident of disqualification which resulted in a great upset by the 4-man team.[35]

2018 Asian Games

Following the success of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, De Silva was selected for the 2018 Asian Games which was held in August.[36][37]

Scholarships

Sri Lankan Government Scholarship

In 2014 the former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage sponsored De Silva to train at the Bolles School, Jacksonville, Florida.

FINA/Thanyapura Scholarship

De Silva was selected in 2015[38] by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) to receive the country's first FINA affiliated international training scholarship to train at the Thanyapura Aquatic Training Centre in Phuket, Thailand.[39] His scholarship has been renewed for the next 4 years consecutively; in order 2015,2016,2017 and 2018.[40] He was bestowed with the scholarships selected as the most deserving swimmer selected by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union(SLASU).[41]

Sponsorships

De Silva had a full-fledged sponsorship from Australia's largest swim brand, Way Funky, under their Funky Trunks brand. This marked the first time in Sri Lankan history that a Sri Lankan swimmer had been sponsored by an international corporation. They sponsored him due to his impressive performance, image and likeness, providing support for all his swimming needs, including swim gear and swimwear.[42]

De Silva was also the brand ambassador of Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club Phuket in 2017.

Achievements

Sri Lankan National Records

Event Time NameClubDateMeetLocation Ref
50m Freestyle 22.55(SCM) NAT, WC BCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 2 December 20177th Singapore National Short Course Swimming Championship 2017 Singapore, Singapore [43]
100m Freestyle 49.29(SCM) NAT, WC BCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 2 December 20177th Singapore National Short Course Swimming Championship 2017 Singapore, Singapore [44]
50m Butterfly 23.48(SCM) NAT, WC BCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 2 December 20177th Singapore National Short Course Swimming Championship 2017 Singapore, Singapore [45]
100m Butterfly 52.19(SCM) NAT, WC BCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 1 December 20177th Singapore National Short Course Swimming Championship 2017 Singapore, Singapore [45]
200m Butterfly 1.57.99(SCM) NAT, WC BCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 1 December 20177th Singapore National Short Course Swimming Championship 2017 Singapore, Singapore [46]
200m Butterfly 2.05.10(LCM) NATCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 10 March 201753rd Milo/Pram Malaysia Open Swimming Championship Melaka, Malaysia [47]

International and Collegiate Level Records

Event Time NameClubDateMeetLocation Ref
100y Butterfly 47.31 NCAC Record, Pool RecordCherantha De Silva Kenyon College 14 February 2020NCAC Conference Championships Granville, OH, United States [48]
4X50Y Medley Relay 1.26.76 Varsity RecordCherantha De Silva Kenyon College 15 March 2023NCAA Men's Division III Swimming and Diving Championships Greensboro, NC, United States [49]
50scm Butterfly 23.48 Meet Record and unofficial Singaporean RecordCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 01 December 20172017 Singapore Open Nationals – Short course meters Singapore, Singapore [50]
50scm Freestyle 22.55 Meet RecordCherantha De Silva  Sri Lanka 02 December 20172017 Singapore Open Nationals – Short course meters Singapore, Singapore [50]

References

  1. ↑ "Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort - Optimise Your Life". Thanyapura Phuket. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "5 National records (SCM)". 2 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "1 National record (LCM)".
  4. ↑ "World Championships qualifying times". 19 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Erandhi, Cherantha Adjudged Best Sports Stars". The Sunday Leader. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Coaches Name 2020 Scholar All-Americans". CSCAA. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  7. ↑ (PDF) https://www.kenyon.edu/files/resources/commencement-2023-program.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Report: Private college in Ohio most expensive in United States". NBC4 WCMH-TV. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Exploring Virtual Reality".
  10. ↑ (PDF) https://www.kenyon.edu/files/resources/business-financial-services-and-logistics_kenyon-c.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ "Lords dominate day three, take over NCAC lead". Kenyon College Athletics. 14 February 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Kenyon - Records". www.swimcloud.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  13. ↑ (PDF) https://www.omegatiming.com/File/0001170006FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF22.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "60 NCAC Student-Athletes Named CSCAA All-Americans". northcoast.org. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  15. ↑ "NCAA Individual Champions". northcoast.org. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  16. ↑ https://meetresults.greensboroaquaticcenter.com/2023NCAAD3/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "Lane 0". IMDb.
  18. ↑ "Lane 0 -Swimswam". 28 October 2017.
  19. ↑ "Lane 0". IMDb.
  20. ↑ "Junior World Championships" (PDF).
  21. ↑ "K. T. Cherantha de Silva". My Swim Results. Kentgold Holdings Pty Ltd. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay". Fina: World Championships.
  23. ↑ "Hangzhou". Papare.com. 12 December 2018.
  24. ↑ "Hangzhou2". Papare.com. 8 December 2018.
  25. ↑ (PDF) http://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011500190104EC0101FFFFFFFFFF00.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ↑ (PDF) https://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011500190101EC0101FFFFFFFFFF00.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ↑ "Cherantha de Silva". Glasgow 2014 - Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  28. ↑ Abeysekera, Anuradha (16 May 2016). "Cherantha sets two Lankan swim marks in Malaysia". The Daily News. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  29. ↑ "Cherantha de Silva Makes History for Sri Lanka in Singapore". SwimSwam. 2 December 2017.
  30. ↑ Ranasinghe, Dinushki (2 December 2017). "Cherantha de Silva outshines himself overseas". ThePapare.com.
  31. ↑ "Swimming: Two women and four men to represent Sri Lanka at CWG 2018". The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 19 February 2018. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  32. ↑ Ranasinghe, Dinushki (1 March 2018). "Know your swimmers for Commonwealth Games 2018". www.thepapare.com. Dialog Axiata. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  33. ↑ "CWG2018". 6 April 2018.
  34. ↑ "CWG20182". 16 April 2018.
  35. ↑ "CWG20183". 26 July 2018.
  36. ↑ "AsianGames". 26 July 2018.
  37. ↑ "Asian Games". Facebook.
  38. ↑ "FINA Scholarship Programme at Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort". Thanyapura Phuket. 28 March 2017. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  39. ↑ "Kimiko Raheem and Cherantha De Silva look at Olympic Prospects". Aquatic Sports Lanka. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  40. ↑ "Cherantha's Scholarship".
  41. ↑ "FINA Scholarship".
  42. ↑ www.funkytrunks.com https://www.funkytrunks.com/blog/competitions/10595-funky-trunks-f-teamers-prep-for-the-comm-games. Retrieved 20 June 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  43. ↑ "Cherantha de Silva outshines himself overseas". 2 December 2017.
  44. ↑ "Cherantha de Silva outshines himself overseas". 2 December 2017.
  45. 1 2 Ranasinghe, Dinushki (2 December 2017). "Cherantha de Silva outshines himself overseas". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  46. ↑ "Chernatha de Silva makes history for Sri Lanka in Singapore". swimswam.com. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  47. ↑ "Swimming: Cherantha de Silva sets new national record in 200m Butterfly event".
  48. ↑ "Kenyon Men Take Over Lead, Denison Women Maintain It At NCAC Championships". SwimSwam. 15 February 2020.
  49. ↑ "Men's Swimming & Diving Record Book". Kenyon College Athletics.
  50. 1 2 "CHERANTHA DE SILVA MAKES HISTORY FOR SRI LANKA IN SINGAPORE". Swimswam. 2 December 2017.
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