KUALA LUMPUR: Eight national backup swimmers — three men and five women — will vie for honours in the 53rd Malaysian Open Swimming championship at Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre. The meet began yesterday.
Swimmers Boey Wen Teng, Chelsea Chong , Illi Gan Abdul Rahman, Evon Heng, Sia Loong Er (women), Chi Chia Kian, Andrew Loh and Muhd Ariff Rashid (men) have their hands full.
They will have the chance to "rub" shoulders with the big names in Malaysia and from abroad .
According to Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary Edwin Chong swimmers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Iran are also competing.
“In addition, national swimmers are preparing for the Asian and Commonwealth Games. To date Daniel Bego, Khoo Cai Lin and Seow Yi Ting have qualified.
“It is also a platform for State coaches to gauge the performances of their proteges with the Malacca Sukma Games in mind next month.”
Pahang’s 14-year old Boey Wen Teng is very eager to make a "splash" as she makes her debut.
She is competing in the 50m and 100m breaststroke with the latter being her favourite event.
“I was selected to compete in 2008 but had to withdraw at the last moment because of chicken pox. Last year I failed to meet the qualifying time and was ousted from the team.
“My target is at least a silver as I will be up against highly- rated and fancied opponents, Christine Loh and Erika Kong,” lamented Wan Teng.
Another hopeful is 13-year-old Chelsea Chong who wants to gain experience rather than make an impact in the championship.
She created "waves" last year by netting seven gold and five silver medals in the MSSM swimming championship.
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