Tanjung Biru (Open Water) Swim Marathon on 7 July 2019

On Sunday 7th July 2019, a handful of IBSC swimmers were participating in Tanjung Biru (Open Water) Swim Marathon located at Pantai Cermin, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

There were five event categories in the marathon. First category was Sea Angel (400m) for boys and girls age 7 - 13 years old. Then, there were 1km, 2km, 5 km and 10km categories for men and women age 13 years old above.

The organiser of this marathon, Swimon has been offering Open Water Swimming (OWS) races and events since 2017. But Tanjung Biru was their debut using a 'beach loop format' (where swimmers started from the beach, swim a certain distance in the sea and return to the beach before entering the water again to start another loop). See the diagram below.

We were greeted with heavy rain that Sunday morning, so the sea was a bit choppy and cold. Despite the weather challenges, our swimmers did rather well in their events.

For Sea Angel (400m), IBSC had five representatives.

Twin brothers Nicholas Long and Matthew Long both won 2nd and 3rd place for Male age 12-13 years old.

While their triplet sister Kelly Long (below, in red tri-suit) won 1st place for Female age 12-13 years.

For Female age 10-11 years old, Cheah Dong Xuan won 2nd place.

And Wong Joelyne swam her way to 1st place for Female age 7-9 years old group.

For 1km category, Don Lim won 1st place for his age group (Male 13-29 years old) as well overall winner with his timing of 16:42.09 minutes.

In the same distance, Awwal Zasfika won 1st place for her age group and received trophy for overall Female winner in this 1km event.

In the 2km category, our sole representative - Keenen Low was among the top 10 swimmer in his age group.

Moving on to 5km category, Chelsea Lee Ning made us proud by winning 1st place for Female age 13-19 years old group with her timing of 1:18.25.41 hour.

As with any marathon, the cherry on top is the longest distance. For 10km category, both Emmanuel Lee Boon Yao and Muhammad Rayyan Muhd Iqbal were in the top 10 for their age group, and top 16 for overall placing, with their timing 3:20:45.21 hours and 3:17:13.57 hours respectively.

Well done, congratulations to all swimmers, their families and support teams! May the achievements of these swimmers be a motivation for IBSC to start an OWS team in the future.

Please see attachments for results of 1st to 3rd placements in each distance's categories.

For individual results, please see this link - PD Marathon Swim 2019-Results


Report written by,
Zaszima Abu Samah
(mom to Awwal Zasfika)
14 July 2019

Chelsea Lee won 1st Open Water Swimming Championship 2019 at Putrajaya Lake

IBSC swimmer, Chelsea Lee Ning, 14, made a first trial to test the 1st Open Water Swimming  Championship 2019 last weekend on 21 April, 2019 at Putrajaya Lake and much to the delight of proud parents, she managed to walk out of the water first championing the female category with a swim of 1 hour 18 mins  surpassing other more experience female swimmers senior than her.

Chelsea Lee, won the overall 5km marathon swim at the inaugural Open Water Swimming 2019 organised by ASUM jointly with SwimOn Malaysia

Chelsea recounted, "I was a bit nervous at the start because open water swimming is new to me. When I jumped into the water I told myself to be myself and I stayed calm."

"The water was dirty and murky, so I couldn’t see a thing. I felt like the water in the lake was actually hard to feel and pull. But after a while, I got use to it and it was easier to swim. By staying calm and focus I just swam my best." 

" I could have done a better time if not for the mistakes I made at the start as I went off trail, it was really new to me and I couldn’t really identify the check points.  But as I caught up with the last batches of boys in front of me, they became my check points then and I just tried my best to swim past them."

Congratulations to Chelsea, and we hope she will be a prominent open water swimmer one day.

Meanwhile, the male category was won by former national swimmer, Kevin Yeap who is now a coach in Perak.

Kevin Yeap, the male winner of the 5km open swimming, is a source of inspiration to Chelsea too.

Chelsea with winners on the podium

Nur Iman Nabilah celebrating her win with fellow winners in the Open Female category

Another IBSC swimmer, Nur Iman Nabilah (aka. Bella) swam the Open category and is a seasoned swimmer in open water. Her last minute entry prompted by Coach Shazali yielded a silver for her as she came second with a time of 1 hour 21 mins, behind Irene Chong.

Winners of 14-19 years boys, where Muhd Rayyan came third 

In the 5km Half-Marathon event, Muhd Rayyan, came third in the age group of 14-19 years with a time of 1 hour 28 mins.

On the same day of the 1st Open Water Championship, a Putrajaya Swimfest 2019 was concurrently held too at the same lake.

IBSC swimmer, Awwal Zasfika, swam the 380m kids event and came 2nd in the Sea Angel category for 10-11 years girls.

Awwal Zasfika on the extreme right, with winning mates

Congratulations to all winners.

See full results at https://www.malaysiaopenwaterswimming.com/

1st Malaysia Open Water Swimming Championships 2019

Open water swimmers are invited to compete in the 1st Malaysia Open Water Swimming Championships 2019 as follows :

Date : 21 April, 2019 (Sunday)
Venue : Putrajaya Lake
Distance :  5km
Age Group : 14-15 years, 16-17 years, 18-19 years and Open category
Closing Date : 10 April, 2019
Entry Fee : RM180/swimmer

The invitation letter, Competition Rules, Registration & Entry Forms can be downloaded here.

Good Luck!

Invitation to Labuan Cross Channel Swimming Championship 2018

The Persatuan Akuatik W.P. Labuan (Labuan Aquatic Association) will be organising the upcoming Labuan Cross Channel Swimming Championship 2018 on 28th April 2018 at Labuan International Sea Sports Complex in conjunction with the Labuan International Sea Challenge 2018.

Attached are the rules & regulations together with the registration form as well as prize list and Route Map for the event for your information and reference.

Anyone interested may contact the organiser directly for participation. 

Contact Details :

Bernice Chin-Langshaw
Organising Committee
Labuan Cross Channel Swimming Championship 2018
+6 012 885 2901

Download 2018 Labuan Cross Channel Swimming Invite & Rules

Swimmers given great tips on long distance swimming by Kevin Yeap

IBSC swimmers who registered for the swim clinics by Kevin Yeap yesterday received great handy tips on how to pace and strategies a long distance swimming race. Thanks to the SEA Games 2017 Gold Medalist who won the recent 10km Open Water swimming race in Putrajaya during the SEA Games Kuala Lumpur.

Kevin has parted some valuable knowledge and skill to IB swimmers, introducing theories as well as practical techniques in the pool later.

Some excerpt from parents' feedback :

"Kevin gave a good understanding to prepare for long distance race and he was systematic and thorough in his presentation. Most enlightening was his sharing on pace sets, threshold sets, pyramid sets, longer pace sets, stroke rates as well as counts, which are all new to us. He was so willing to share his experience as a student cum national swimmer. We find him inspiring." - Mrs Jann Teh

Kevin engaged with swimmers with his personal touch and the swimmers are fond of him. Autographs and photo sessions are a must!

During the clinic, swimmers were also given a special souvenir bag by the club but what made it special was the fact the Kevin was willing to part with his momentous lapel pins and badges he collected during his swimming career, as a gift to the swimmers. They were also awarded a certificate of participation too.

Thank you Kevin and we look forward to more fruitful sessions next week and possibly in Nov 2017 too! Tune in for more.

See  more photos in album here.

Long Distance Swimming Clinics by Kevin Yeap, SEA Games 2017 Gold Medalist

Calling IBSC intermediate and advance swimmers!

If you are interested to participate in the above Long Distance Swimming Clinic to be conducted by Kevin Yeap, the Open Water Gold Medalist of Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017, please REGISTER NOW. Only limited slots available on either 1st October, 2017 or 8th October, 2017.

Dates : 1st October, 2017 (Session 1) | 8th October, 2017 (Session 2)
Registration : 9:15 am.
Event Time : 9:30 am. to 11:30 am.
Venue : Cheras pool, Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur
Member Fee : RM80/swimmer
Max Capacity : 6 swimmers/session
Program : Theory in classroom & pool practice session
Prerequisite : Intermediate swimming
Who should register : Swimmers who are keen to learn performance techniques in controlling pace and build up endurance for long distance swimming.
Registration : On first come first served basis complete with payment
Organiser : Kelab Renang Ikan Bilis

REGISTER ONLINE NOW
* souvenir awaits you