Cindy warms up for SEA Games with sprint victory

KUALA LUMPUR: Rising national triathlete Cindy Sui (pic) produced an encouraging performance ahead of her SEA Games debut in Thailand next week, claiming the women’s sprint title in the Aquathlon Kuala Langat at Lover’s Bridge, Tanjung Sepat, yesterday.

The 27-year-old Cindy, clocked 34:33s to finish the contest which combined a 750m swim and 5km run, ahead of Chan May Yan (37:37s) and Shannon Liaw (40:49s).

“This race gave me a really good feel of how I want to execute my performance at the SEA Games, especially because aquathlon will be the first event for me there,” said Cindy.

“It wasn’t an ‘A race’ for me, but it was still an important chance to assess how my body responds and where I need to tidy things up.”

The former Sarawak state swimmer said switching sports was a major turning point in her career.

“I’ve been a competitive swimmer since I was young, but in Malaysia the highest level I reached was Sukma (Malaysia Games).

“I couldn’t break into the national team, so I thought that dream of representing the country was already gone.

“When I came into triathlon, everything changed.

“I never imagined endurance sport for myself, but here I am finally able to wear national colours on a big stage. It feels like one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she said.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces’ Khairil Azhar Abdul Wahid delivered the standout result in the men’s Olympic distance (1.5km swim-10km run), storming to victory in 1:05:23s ahead of Jeremy Tan (1:06:16s) and Indra Abunawas (1:07:43s). — Bernama