Veteran swimmer Cindy can still make a splash outside the pool

Pushing the limits: Cindy Ong still trains as hard as any of the national athletes half her age despite the movement control order.

PETALING JAYA: The Covid-19 pandemic has forced former national swimmer Cindy Ong to stay out of the pool but it has not stopped her from keeping herself in top shape.

At 36 and now a mother to three young kids, Cindy still trains as hard as any of the national athletes half her age despite being cooped up at home.

Cindy’s strong passion for the sport has even saw her setting up free online coaching classes since the movement control order was introduced by the government in mid-March.

“I’ve been doing 10 sessions a week (seven in the morning and three in the evening).

“All are intense sessions as I don’t believe in low intensity styled training, the evening sessions are swim specific workouts.

“The idea started when the MCO was enforced. I was down at first because I could not use the pool and gym at my condo.

“Then a friend suggested that I bring my coaching lessons online and more people started to join, including from overseas as well,” said Cindy, who also streams her sessions live on her Instagram account at @cindy_ong_swimmer.

It’s no surprise that Cindy, who is a private swimming coach and personal trainer, is inspiring people even more than when she was representing the country two decades ago.

Cindy is currently Malaysia’s first-ever multi gold medallist in the sport.

She won five golds and two silvers in the 35-39 age category at the FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, last year.

She claimed gold in the 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly, mixed 4x50m freestyle and medley relays. The two silvers were won in the 50m breaststroke and freestyle events.

In January this year, Cindy created another first for the country when she became the first swimmer to be ranked No. 1 in the FINA world rankings for women’s 100m butterfly in the 35-39 age category.

And to think that it all started when she just wanted to lose some weight after the birth of her youngest child Connor Matthew Kit three years ago.

“One thing led to another and I started to compete at Masters meets and from there I got into the Masters World Championships.

“I was thinking that if I put in all my effort, I could go all the way and to actually do it is definitely the biggest achievement of my career to date,” said Cindy, who made a name for herself when she won six gold medals at the 2004 Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Negri Sembilan.