Hii And Five Others Not Sure of Spots In Youth Olympics

PETALING JAYA: Sarawakian Hii Siew Siew, who was named the outstanding female swimmer in the national schools (MSSM) championships in Shah Alam last week, will have to wait along with five others to find out whether they will be on the plane to Singapore for the Youth Olympics.

Siew Siew, who hails from Sibu, beat the qualifying standards for the 100m and 200m butterfly events in the inaugural Games, which will be held from Aug 14-26, for swimmers between the ages of 16 and17-years-old.

Siew Siew smashed eight-year-old MSSM records in the 100m and 200m butterfly held by Cindy Ong in her first outing in the 16-18 age-group to show that she is on track to deliver a double for Sarawak in Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Malacca in June.

The other female swimmers who have surpassed the qualifying marks are Sabah’s Lai Wei Li (200m and 400m freestyle), Perak’s Cheng Karmen (200m individual medley and 200m backstroke) and Johor’s Low Xue Ting (100m freestyle).

Wei Li, who bagged nine gold medals in the MSSM last week, is incidentally coached by former international Lim Keng Liat, who is the chef-de-mission of the Malaysian contingent for the Youth Olympics.

Malaysia have two male swimmers who have beaten the qualifying marks – Penangite James Chen (100m freestyle) and Perakian Kevin Yeap (200m and 400m freestyle).

The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary, Edwin Chong, said that those who had beaten the qualifying times were still not assured of getting to compete in the Games.
“There is a cap of 400 competitors for swimming and those who have beaten the qualifying times will be listed based on their rankings,” he said.

“The qualifying period ends on March 31 and the last championships for our swimmers to beat the marks were the national age-group in Bukit Jalil two weeks ago.

“We have to wait for FINA to come up with the list of swimmers who will get to compete in the Games. But we can be assured of having at least one male and one female swimmer.”
Sarawak also have one of their own in aquatics with Pandelela Rinong down for the diving competitions in the 10m platform and 3m springboard events.

Pandelela made the Games in style by taking gold in the 10m platform and silver in the 3m springboard in the qualifiers in Guadalajara, Mexico, recently.
The male representative for diving is Penangite Ooi Tze Liang, who also made the cut for both individual events.