More open water swimmers needed to boost sport, says Mae

PETALING JAYA: We need more Heidi Gans and Kevin Yeaps.

Malaysia Swimming secretary-general Mae Chen made the call as Malaysia begin their assault in the SEA Open Water Swimming Championships at the Putrajaya Lake today.

The open water event in the region was first held at the 2019 Philippines SEA Games where Kevin won the sole gold medal on offer.

Heidi was the only Malaysian to compete in the open water swimming at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics but those efforts have yet to have a positive effect on the event so far.

As such, Mae hopes the event will provide the opportunity for more national swimmers to take up the event.

“We hope the tournament will pave the way to the development of open water swimming not only in our country, but also in this region. Malaysia’s representation is made up of young talented swimmers, and this is a good sign,” said Mae Chen.

“If we can produce more swimmers like Heidi Gan, then it will be a good start. We are hoping the elite swimmers can attract throngs of Malaysians at the tournament and serve as an inspiration for more people to take up this sport.”

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, no Malaysian swimmer qualified for the event but the region had Singapore’s Chantal Liew as one of the 25 elite swimmers from around the world at the Games.

Joining hosts Malaysia are at the SEAOWSC are swimmers from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.

The tournament will have four age-group categories - 14-15, 16-17, 18-19 as well as 20 years and above – for the boys’ and girls’ and men’s and women’s events.

Two individual events – 5km and 10km – as well as the team relay (4x1.5km) will be held for all categories.

Malaysia’s best hopes for medals are Aslan Adnan, 15, and Chelsea Ning Lee, 18, who will be vying for honours in their respective categories.

Indonesian Aflah Fadlan Prawira and Thailand’s Kittiya Tanakrit are the main drawcards in the men’s and women’s open events.