Sport4Land: A swimmer’s race to reconnect land, water and life

By Minagi Rupesinghe 

In July 2025, I had the honor of representing Sri Lanka at the World Aquatics Swimming and Open Water Championships in Singapore — a lifelong dream come true.

Conditions on race day seemed perfect for a leisure swim: clear skies, a sea temperature of 30°C, no need for wetsuits and bright sunshine. But for an open-water swimming competition, these conditions were punishing. High temperatures accelerated dehydration and pushed our bodies to the limit. Longer races like the 5km and 10km events were particularly hard. Poor water quality compounded the problem.

Some races had to be postponed multiple times as the water quality failed to meet World Aquatics competition standards due to high E. coli levels. Many athletes, including top contenders, suffered from heatstroke and could not finish their races in the gruelling conditions. In Singapore, the races became a fight not just against competitors but against extreme heat and polluted waters: a glimpse of how the climate crisis is reshaping sport.

Back home in Sri Lanka, at the National Swimming Championships, the same story unfolded. All pools in Sri Lanka are outdoors and the burning midday heat made long-distance events like the 800m and 1500m freestyle especially punishing. Dehydration and fatigue set in quickly, forcing changes to race strategy and severely affecting performance and recovery. In tropical countries like mine, training itself becomes an endurance test.

What I faced as an athlete mirrors what my country faces in land and water security. As an island nation, we depend on seasonal monsoon rains and centuries-old tank cascades in the dry zone. When the rains shift or fail, those systems strain fast. Rural areas — where about 80 per cent of the population lives — are hit first and hardest: failed harvests and a critical shortage of water for farming and daily life. Between 2016 and 2017, over two million Sri Lankans were affected by El Niño-induced disasters including landslides, severe flooding and a devastating drought that hit 19 of the country’s 25 districts.

Water scarcity is now ranked the second-largest contributor to vulnerability in Sri Lanka, while around 35.6 per cent of the population lacks adequate access to clean water. In villages, tanks run low, wells taste of salt and families scramble for whatever is left. When piped water runs dry, households turn to unsafe sources, spreading waterborne illness across whole communities. Water shortages have left over 33 per cent of schoolchildren in Sri Lanka without access to safe sanitation. For girls, this means missed school days during menstruation and higher rates of illness — setbacks that ripple into lost education and futures.

There are quieter crises too. Rising salinity has made some village wells non-potable, forcing families to buy safe water at a price. Drought erodes agricultural stability. With 50 per cent of the country’s land degraded and 34 per cent experiencing declining productivity, many rural farmers can no longer sustain a livelihood. Environmental stress has become a barrier to meeting even the most basic human needs.

Resilience is about systems that work for people. Sport teaches us that no one wins alone — and water resilience must be treated like a team sport: coordinated, inclusive and adaptable. We can keep our communities hydrated, keep girls in school and keep athletes in the pool.

Every early-morning lap reminds me: the finish line isn’t just a medal. It’s a community strong enough to stand up to the next drought. That’s the spirit of Sport4Land — teaming up for healthy land.