SEA Games: 11-year-old mermaid Zara, youngest Malaysian participant in Cambodia 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Zara Aleesya Mohamad Suadi is only 11 years old, but the country’s precocious swimmer will race alongside adult athletes in the finswimming event at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from May-17.
Since Zara swims with fins, she can be likened to a ‘little mermaid’, and was initially sent for swimming classes as early as six because her parents, Mohamad Suadi Samsuddin and Haslinda Haron wanted their only child to do something more meaningful and avoid getting stuck with e-gadgets.
However, no one guessed the fifth-year student at Sekolah Kebangsaan (P) Methodist 2 Melaka would morph into Malaysia’s youngest athlete for the SEA Games this time after venturing into finswimming since the beginning of this year.
The little mermaid loves swimming because she likes frolicking in the water with free abandon.
“Zara is excited to go to the SEA Games, but a little nervous because she is still young. It’s really nervy going up against adults, but having reached this level, there is no looking back or backing down, so Zara will do her best.
“It becomes more challenging when we know that we are up against adults and hope to be able to reach the set targets. In the beginning, the teaching and swimming training schedule was quite strict, but now it is normal and it is not difficult to manage time,” Zara told Bernama when met.
She is also excited to get on a plane and fly abroad for the first time into a different environment, in addition to the atmosphere of the games filled with athletes from 11 Southeast Asian countries.
Zara, selected to represent the country in the 4x100m Surface Relay and 4x50m Surface Relay, after winning five gold medals and one silver at the 2023 Malaysian Finswimming Championships in Seremban earlier this year, where she recorded the fourth fastest time in the Surface event.
Commenting on the difference between finswimming and normal swimming, she said it is almost the same but uses equipment such as monofins (fins that hold both legs like a mermaid) or bi-fins (one fin for each leg).
Zara’s involvement in sports is not surprising, as she grew up on the field as both her parents were active in athletics. Mohamad Suadi is a teacher and coach at the Melaka Sports School, while Haslinda is a former national sprinter.
Haslinda said, at first she and her husband were surprised to see Zara's audacity of being able to compete with adult swimmers, but were willing to spend up to RM6,000 to get World Underwater Federation (CMAS) approved equipment bought from Ukraine for official training and tournament use after seeing her potential.
“She is in the national team because of her prestige, not a random choice. We hope she can be independent during the SEA Games, and can contribute to the Malaysian team.
“There is no development for athletics in Melaka, there is only swimming and gymnasium. We sent her to participate in swimming because there is a special club and trainer for children, we decided to train her in terms of endurance, discipline, fill her schedule with beneficial activities instead of gadgets and TV,” Haslinda explained.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Finswimming Association (MFSA) president S. Ravivarma is optimistic that the national team, represented by eight swimmers for this SEA Games, will be able to win a medal after returning empty-handed in their first appearance in Hanoi last year.
“Vietnam and Indonesia remain the main challengers because they have been active in this sport for a long time, compared to Malaysia. But we hope to provide a challenge because the preparation this time is better with several training centres, besides, this sport is also becoming popular in Malaysia,” he said.
The main category of Finswimming is Surface which sees swimmers race on the surface of the water using a snorkel, monofins and goggles, while for Bi-fin, athletes swim on the surface of the water wearing goggles, a snorkel and a pair of fins using freestyle, usually for 50m and 100m races.
Apnoea is an underwater race wearing goggles and a monofin and holding your breath for 50m, while Immersion is the same concept, but swimmers use compressed air cylinders, with a race distance of over 100m.
-- BERNAMA
