The Star : Mighty Heidi

BY LIM TEIK HUAT

Super feat: Heidi Gan and Kevin Yeap showing off the gold and bronze medals they won in the 10km event of the Asian Open Water Swimming Championships in Putrajaya yesterday. Heidi also bagged the bronze in the 5km event on Friday. — IBRAHIM MOHTAR/The Star

PUTRAJAYA: Heidi Gan won a sprint finish to claim a historic gold for Malaysia in the women’s 10km at the Asian Open Water Swimming Championships.

The 28-year-old overtook Xeniya Romanchuk of Kazakhstan after the final loop at the Putrajaya Lake to become the first Malaysian to win a gold in the championships.

There were also cheers for Malaysia as former national swimmer Kevin Yeap rose to the occasion to clinch a bronze in the men’s 10km.

Heidi, who is based in Australia’s Perth, completed the race in 2’17:00.773 under sweltering conditions.

Romanchuk took the silver in 2’21:04.210 while Benjaporn Sriphanomthom secure the bronze for Thailand in 2’22:50.736.

Heidi, a bronze medallist in the 5km event on Friday, was delighted with her perseverance.

“It was tough going but good for me in the end. My coach (Matt Magee) developed a strategy to keep pace with the Japanese.

“They were the favourites but the weather got to them. I also had to change my tactics a bit to win the gold.

“I’m happy to see that I can finish strongly under these conditions. The last time I swam in this region was in 2011 (when she won both the 5km and 10km golds at the Indonesia SEA Games),” said Heidi, a two-time Olympian and a corporate lawyer.

Only the 10km event will be contested at the Aug 19-30 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and Heidi is looking forward to make a golden return.

“It’s good to have the championships on this course. It’s a good practice for me. Only the Thais and Singaporeans raced in these championships but I am pretty confident of my chances,” said Heidi.

Kevin was thrilled to bits to land his first Open swimming medal.

“I managed to overtake Welson (Sim) in the sixth and final loop. My strategy was to pace myself and it worked.

“It was also not so hot towards the end and that helped me tremendously,” said Kevin, the 2011 SEA Games gold medallist in the 400m freestyle.


Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/swimming/2017/05/22/mighty-heidi-malaysian-powers-her-way-to-historic-gold-in-asian-open-water-championships/#GTH6RUygDAxrqcxm.99