Sunday August 16, 2009

Hot over cold challenge

EUROFILE WITH CHOI TUCK WO

Heidi Gan is undeterred by a fellow Malaysian’s aborted swim across the English Channel and hopes to take on what is known as the Everest of open water swimming by the end of next year.

BARELY six weeks after Zahra Masoumah Abdul Halim’s aborted swim across the English Channel, another Malaysian lass is keen to take up the challenge.

Undeterred by her fellow Malaysian’s unsuccessful attempt last month, Heidi Gan hopes to take on what is known as the Everest of open water swimming by the end of next year.

In fact, the day her cousin Dr Lennard Lee conquered the channel in 2004, it whetted her appetite for open water swimming.

Swim princess: Heidi holding up her trophy after winning the St Aubins Fort Swim in Jersey. — Picture courtesy of Kym Jefferies

And Zahra’s brave but futile attempt has further strengthened her resolve to become the first Malaysian girl to make it across.

“I hope to make the historic swim by the end of next year,” she said, adding that her current focus was on qualifying for the Laos SEA Games in December and the Commonwealth Games in October next year.

Fresh from winning the St Aubins Fort Swim in Jersey, Heidi is back in Perth where she is taking a double degree in law and commerce at the University of Western Australia.

Indeed, the 20-year-old is part of the Malaysian national swimming team. She has won a string of medals, including breaking the 200m freestyle record at Sukma 2008.

Heidi also dished out stunning performances when she represented Malaysia and the Federal Territories in previous Sukma games, the Commonwealth Youth Games and SEA Games over the years.

An avid surf lifesaver, she is part of the Australian High-Performance Surf Lifesaving team. She also qualified for the World Swimming Championships in Rome recently but had to pull out due to a viral infection.

Racing environment

Heidi expressed confidence that she was physically prepared for the channel swim as her training and experience in open sea events had conditioned her to the stress and fatigue.

“I’ve done ocean swims in Australia ranging from clear lake-like conditions to choppy and current-driven stormy seas, which is my preferred racing environment,” she said.

She twice completed the 20km Rottnest Channel Swim in Perth, both in the team and duo categories, where her team won in the former event.

Heidi is no stranger to chilly temperatures too. In her recent victory in Jersey, she had to swim in 16° C biting cold waters, which was somewhat similar to Dover’s during Zahra’s swim.

“While the water was cold, it was bearable. I’ve swum enough in cold waters to not freeze up from the shock of it,” she said in reference to Australian waters being relatively cold despite the warm temperature outside.

Then again, open water swims are a whole new ball game. Unlike pool events, the ocean environment is highly volatile with unpredictable swells and powerful currents.

Heidi admitted she still had some way to go in terms of being mentally prepared as her longest swim so far was only half the channel’s distance and in a duo category.

She dismissed the notion that a swimmer training for pool events could easily swim in an open water marathon, saying she had to change her strokes to suit the environment.

Ocean swimming

Heidi paid tribute to Zahra for her courage and enthusiasm as she was in the cold water for nearly 13 hours before being forced to abandon her swim.

She suspected that the chilly temperature might have affected Zahra more as both the sea and pool waters in Malaysia are warmer than in Dover.

“The currents and swells could have presented a lot more menace that caused her to be pulled out of the swim,” she said, referring to the unfavourable tides and sea conditions that thwarted Zahra’s effort.

Heidi said swimming the channel required not just plenty of training but also vast experience and skills to conquer the harsh conditions in the ocean.

Hence, she said she would require further training and competitions in open water swims as her current training was geared towards pool events.

Having said that, she still looked forward to pursuing her real passion in ocean swimming once her pool career came to a halt.

Heidi, whose parents migrated from Kuching to Perth 21 years ago, also spoke highly of Dr Lennard for his dedication to swimming and his ability to make time for it despite his hectic schedule as a doctor.

Although she did not watch Dr Lennard’s channel feat as she was in full-time training then, she followed his progress through SMS and e-mail from her aunt Monica Liew.

And her message for Malaysians aspiring to be swimmers? “Go for it!”

News

Sunday August 16, 2009

Hot over cold challenge

EUROFILE WITH CHOI TUCK WO

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