Sports

Tuesday February 28, 2006

Losing a leg fails to stop Sarawak's Fraidde from being a top sportsman

BY LIM TEIK HUAT

KUALA LUMPUR: Fraidde Dawan wanted to follow in the footsteps of sprinter Watson Nyambek but a logging accident six years ago crushed his hopes.

His left leg had to be amputated below the knee and Fraidde was forced to turn to swimming to keep his passion for sports alive.

For the struggles that he had gone through to make it to the team for the Commonwealth Games, he will not be lacking in determination to go the extra mile in Melbourne.

The disabled athletes will get to compete alongside their able-bodied counterparts in the Games for the second consecutive time after Manchester four years ago.

The medals won by those in the elite athletes with a disability (EAD) competitions will count for their country in the standings and Fraidde is looking forward to the chance to contribute one for Malaysia.

The 19-year-old from Bintulu will compete in the amputees' category in EAD swimming.

Fraidde won a bronze medal in the 200m medley at the World Championships for Amputees in Brazil late last year.

HARD AT WORK: Law King Kiew training for her shot putt (wheelchair) event in the Commonwealth Games next month.
However, there is no 200m medley race in Melbourne and Fraidde will only swim in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

“I hope to return with a medal,” said Fraidde, a silver medallist in the Para SEA Games in Manila last December.

“It is important for me to do well because I hope to get selected for the Fespic Asian Games in November this year (which Malaysia will host for the first time).”

Fraidde was just 14 when the freak logging accident happened. His father worked in the logging camp in the interiors of Sarawak and Fraidde was forced to wait for hours before he could get treatment.

The doctor managed to save his right leg but not the other one.

For the Commonwealth Games, Fraidde, who is of Iban descent, feels that he is lucky to have earned a place in the Malaysian contingent.

“I love to run and I felt like it was the end of the world when the accident happened,” recalled Fraidde, whose village is a 10-hour bus ride from Kuching.

“But swimming was part of the rehabilitation process and I found out that I could swim quite fast. I started to take part in competitions from 2002 and that was how I ended up here.”

Another swimmer who will be looking to impress for Malaysia is 21-year-old Stanley Jeranding, who will compete in the visually impaired category.

Stanley, who is also of Iban descent, was a double gold medallist (100m and 200m freestyle) in the Para SEA Games in Manila.

Like his three brothers, Stanley was born with less than 20% vision in his eyes but that has not stopped him from excelling in sports.

“I hope to set a personal best time in the events in Melbourne,” he said.

The third swimmer in the Malaysia team is 29-year-old Razak Thambi, who won a silver in the 100m breaststroke at the world meet for amputees in Brazil.

Coach Lewin Lim said that the three swimmers qualified on merit based on their performances in Brazil and Manila.

“They have been training full-time at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil for the past three weeks,” he said.

A total of nine Malaysians will be competing in the EAD competitions in four sports – athletics, swimming, wheelchair table tennis and powerlifting.

The disabled athletes contributed one silver (weightlifting) and two bronzes (lawn bowls) in the 2002 Manchester Games.

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