Star Metro - Motivating Malaysians to keep fit

Leading the way: National swimmers Phee (left) and Khoo agree that a balanced lifestyle is imperative for a healthy body and mind.

Maintaining a balanced lifestyle can be a crucial aspect in the pursuit of a healthy body and mind. It is this very mindset that national swimmers Khoo Cai Lin and Phee Jing En hope the upcoming Hari Sukan Negara 2015 on Oct 10, will be able to instil in all Malaysians.

According to a 2014 report from British medical journal, The Lancet, 49% of women and 44% of men in Malaysia are in the obese category. This is worsened by the fact that the country has the highest obesity and diabetes rates in South-East Asia and is ranked sixth in Asia Pacific for obesity.

The biggest struggle for most people is that they tend to regard exercising as a chore rather than a way of life.

This is something that both Khoo and Phee believe Malaysians need to overcome at all costs.

“The important thing is to maintain a balance between work, health and social life. In fact, exercising just a few days a week can make a big difference,” said Khoo, who is pursuing a double degree in public relations and marketing at Taylor’s University.

SEA Games gold medalist Phee, 18, echoed her sentiments, saying that, “Sports must be made an important part of our everyday lives. A short run or walk at your neighbourhood park for one to two hours a week is a good way to start.

“As a student, I try to maintain a balanced lifestyle by dividing my time between sports, studies and my family.”

Finding the right motivation can do wonders in achieving one’s goals.

“I am inspired by the chance to make our nation proud and I am very passionate about swimming. No matter what, the beginning is always the hardest, so set a realistic goal and work towards it.

“Some people find it difficult to put on weight while others struggle to shed it. Everyone has problems. Just don’t give up,” said Khoo.

For Phee, sports can offer a temporary escape from problems.

“I just love swimming. When I am in the water, I forget about everything else such as stress and college work. It is just me and the water.”

With Hari Sukan Negara 2015 just weeks away, these talented young women believe that it will be a great opportunity for most Malaysians to get the ball rolling.

“This campaign would encourage people to exercise more and lead a healthier lifestyle.

“It is crucial for us to have a healthy community. Otherwise, we will not be able to reach our full potential as a nation,” said Khoo, who has done Malaysia proud on multiple occasions, including representing the country at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Phee, too, sees the initiative by the Youth and Sports Ministry as a positive move for the future.

“I am confident that the nationwide campaign will serve as a great way to bring people together and show them the fun side of sporting activities”.

Over three million Malaysians are expected to participate in the nationwide event with more than 4,435 sporting and fitness programmes planned.

Among the more anticipated events are the Spartan Race, The Music Run, PD International Triathlon, Score Fitmob, sports expo and national bike race.

Inaugural Holiday Swim Clinic a success

The inaugural Holiday Swim Clinic organised jointly by Persatuan Renang Amatur Kuala Lumpur and Ikan Bilis Swimming Club  (IBSC) has registered the desired number of participants from various schools in Kuala Lumpur.

The clinic organised for the first time was to spur interest in swimming and to encourage students to take up swimming as a preferred sport in view of the many benefits swimming can offer. It was indeed a blessing that MILO Nestle has been more than willing to support us in this development sports level.

The swim clinic program was unique in its way as it included 2 sessions contributed by the Institut Sukan Negara (ISN) where volunteers from ISN carried out a basic physical assessment amongst participants on week 1 followed by a nutrition talk by a dietitian in week 2.

From these 2 sessions, parents gained further insight into their children's physical abilities measured against the national development level and also many got tips in providing the nutrition intake to their kids involved in sports. The parents participated actively during the nutrition talk.

ISN volunteers assessing the fitness level of participants

Physical strength being tested on young participants 

Shan, a qualified dietitian, giving a talk to parents on the right food intake for their children involved in sports

On the last day of the clinic, Ian James Bar, our national swimmer was invited to a sharing session with swimmers and parents. The kids were all eager to listen to their idol's  swimming experience and even more excited with his autograph session. Ian has delivered an awesome and entertaining sharing session with his fans.

Ian James Barr signing autographs for the kids

MILO Nestle has also awarded top 6 best participants with a tin of MILO each and they were :

Girls
Nur Aina Syaheera, 12
Sandra Loke, 11
Sonia Lakeisha, 6

Boys
Saw Wei Er, 12
Jareck Cheong, 9
Saw Xuan Er, 8


Without the following sponsors and partners, we would not have carried out the clinic so breezily. A big thank you to all of them for making this a successful event.

Nestle Products Sdn Bhd
Institut Sukan Negara
Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan
Green Cotton Sdn Bhd


Also with the effort and guidance of our Head Coach, Coach Shazali together with the assistance of Coach Kamarudin and Coach Hisham, and help from IBSC senior swimmers, Desmond Ng and Howard Sim, the program was carried out without a glitch.

The swimmers have thoroughly enjoyed the program and have been giving positive feedbacks, with some already asking for repeat sessions. With such encouraging response, the organiser will likely to announce the next holiday swim clinic soon!

THANK YOU TO ALL!

Welcome banner to the Swim Clinic

Participants eager to learn new swimming skills

Sharmaine and Sonia giving thumbs up as they enjoyed the splashes around the pool

Participants were introduced to some land exercise using stretch cords with guidance from Coach Kamal

Coach Hisham guiding new learners passionately

New kids on the block.....

Swimmers learning new exercises in the gym room

Jareick Cheong, one of the top 6 participants winning a tin of MILO for his best participation in the program, presented by Coach Shazali

Mr Teo Mua Seng (right), President of PRAKL and IBSC, presenting Ian with a MILO hamper as a token of appreciation for his appearance

See more photos at IBSC Gallery - Week 1 & Week 2.

Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Haji 2015

Happy Malaysia Day 2015

The Star Online : Fu Kang misses breaststroke treble in Samoa

BY TAN MING WAI

PETALING JAYA: Wong Fu Kang fell short in his bid to bag a glorious breaststroke treble at the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Samoa.

The 17-year-old, who had won the 50m and 100m breaststroke titles earlier, finished second in the 200m event.

The 17-year-old, who had won the 50m and 100m breaststroke titles earlier, could only end up second in the 200m race behind England’s Edward Baxter.

Fu Kang touched the wall at 2:18.18 to improve on his previous personal best of 2:18.20 set at the National Age Group Championship in April. But Baxter was better, clocking 2:15.80.

South Africa’s James Greig Isemonger took bronze in 2:19.99.

Fu Kang admits he has Elvin Chia’s national mark of 2:15.62 in his sights as he aims to be a formidable breaststroke specialist.

Fu Kang holds the national records for both the 50m breaststroke (28.67) and 100m breaststroke (1:02.46).

“I failed to win my third goal, but at least I ended my CYG campaign by setting a new personal best,” said the Phuket-based Fu Kang.

“I’m not that strong in the 200m. I’m certainly going to focus on it in the next few months. For endurance, I guess I need to put a lot of emphasis on aerobics.

“I’m giving myself until the end of the year to try and dip under 2:16 before chasing Elvin’s long-standing record.”

Welson Sim, winner of the 400m freestyle gold, hit a low – clocking 24.35 to finish last in the men’s 50m freestyle final.

Weightlifting contributed its third gold of the week for the Malaysian contingent through Jabriella Teo Samuel in the women’s above 69kg category.

Jabriella clinched gold with a total lift of 186kg, beating Samoa’s Feagaiga Stowers (172kg) and Cameroon’s Rayssa Djifack Ma-atemken Zomgoua (169kg).

Erry Hidayat (men’s 69kg) and Nur Atikah Sobri (women’s 58kg) struck gold in weightlifting on Wednesday.

Malaysia also claimed a bronze in lawn bowls, with Fatin Nurrawiah Shamsudin-Muhd Saifudin Zulkepli beating New Zealand’s Seamus Curtin-Ashleigh Jeffcoat 22-10 for third spot in the mixed doubles event.

Along with the three gold medals from squash on Thursday, the national contingent now have a total haul of 11-3-3 to be placed fourth in the medal standings. Squash completed a clean sweep of all the five gold medals at stake while swimming and weightlifting each contributed three golds in Malaysia’s total medal tally.

Australia (23-18-19) are top of the medal standings, followed by England (12-16-16) and South Africa (12-7-15).

The 11-3-3- haul will be the country’s final tally as well because Malaysia are not represented in rugby 7s and tennis – the last two events before the Games conclude Friday.

Still, it is Malaysia’s best-ever performance at the CYG, surpassing the 6-9-3 haul in the 2004 edition in Bendigo, Australia.

The Star : Malaysian swimmers make big splash in Commonwealth Youth Games

BY LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian swimmers Wong Fu Kang and Welson Sim are making big splashes at the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Samoa.

While Fu Kang bagged his second gold medal in as many days, Welson finally got his hand on his first.

First in action on Wednesday was the 17-year-old Fu Kang, who came out tops in 28.92 in the men’s 50m breaststroke – finishing just ahead of South Africa’s James Greig Isemonger, who clocked 29.20 and third-placed Kieran Preston of Scotland.

Fu Kang had won the 100m breaststroke gold on Tuesday.

The Malaysian camp’s celebration had hardly died down when it was Welson’s turn to take to the pool in the 400m freestyle.

The 18-year-old Sarawakian held off a determined Kyle Chisholm of England to win the eight-lap race in 3:54.25. Chisholm settled for silver in 3:54.76 while Australia’s Clyde Lewis got the bronze.

That’s the first time Welson has stood at the top of the podium in the quadrennial Games. He delivered two silver medals in the 200m and 1,500m freestyle races on Monday, and finished fourth in the 100m freestyle on Tuesday.

Malaysian swimmer Welson Sim with the 400m freestyle gold medal he won at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa on Wednesday.

Malaysian swimming coach Paul Birmingham was pleased with the boys, who were the only medal contributors for Malaysia on Wednesday.

It kept Malaysia fourth in the medal standings with a haul of 7-2-2. Australia lead with 15-11-13, followed by South Africa (10-5-8) and England (7-11-11).

“We’ve kept up our medal streak since the first day. Fu Kang clocked good times ... not too far off his national record of 28.67 set at the Singapore SEA Games in June,” said Birmingham.

“Welson is a bit tired as he has been swimming for the last three days. He will finish off with the 50m freestyle tomorrow, but I’m not expecting anything as he is not a sprinter.”

Phuket-based Fu Kang will seek to end his CYG outing on a high by winning the men’s 200m breaststroke on Thursday.

There was also good news from the archery range as Nuramalia Haneesha Mazlan put herself in medal contention after making the semi-finals of the women’s individual recurve.

The 15-year-old from Terengganu received a bye in the first round and beat Charlotte Harris of the Isle of Man 6-5 in the last eight.

The semi-finals will see Nuramalia taking on England’s Elizabeth Warner and India’s Prachi Singh facing Scotland’s Eugenia Helen D’Arcy.

In the boys’ division, Arriffuddinur Zakaria fell at the first hurdle, losing 6-0 to Tonga’s Arne Jensen.

The athletics competition ended on Wednesday with Malaysia finishing empty-handed. In boxing, none of the four pugilists reached the semi-finals.

Fifty-three nations are participating in the CYG, which features nine sports – athletics, boxing, squash, swimming, archery, lawn bowls, rugby 7s, tennis and weightlifting.

Star Online : Malaysia surpass best haul in Commonwealth Youth Games

BY LIM TEIK HUAT

ETALING JAYA: One made a big splash to create history, two flexed their muscles, and two others squashed their opponents.

And it resulted in Malaysia earning five gold medals – through Wong Fu Kang in swimming; Nur Atikah Mohd Sabri and Muhd Erry Hidayat in weightlifting; and Ng Eain Yow and S. Sivasangari in squash (pic, below) – at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.

Nur Atikah got the ball rolling in the morning by winning the women’s 58kg weightlifting competition. Fu Kang doubled the joy by winning the men’s 100m breaststroke event for Malaysia’s first gold medal in swimming in the Games history.

Muhd Erry then sealed gold No. 3 for the day in the men’s 69kg category.

With squash’s two golds, Malaysia find themselves in fourth spot in the medal standings with a haul of 5-2-2 – surpassing their previous best of 4-2-1 achieved at the last Games in Isle of Man in 2011. Badminton, which contributed all four gold medals then, is not contested this time.

History-maker Fu Kang, 17, has yet to come to terms with his achievement.

“This win has not sunk in yet. I’m happy to maintain my performance level after the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan last month and the Singapore SEA Games in June.

“My aim is to get to the Olympics in Rio next year and I will keep on improving my personal best time,” said Fu Kang, who will compete in the men’s 50m breaststroke on Wednesday.

Fu Kang first made a name for himself at the Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil in March after clocking 1:02.56 in 100m breaststroke to shatter 1998 Asian Games bronze medallist Elvin Chia’s national record of 1:02.59, which had stood since 2000.

Barely three months later, Fu Kang lowered it to 1:02.46 on his way to delivering the first swimming gold for Malaysia at the Singapore SEA Games.

Malaysian swimmer Wong Fu Kang won the 100m breast stroke event at the Singapore SEA Games in June. - The STAR filepic

Another Singapore SEA Games gold medallist Welson Sim missed out on getting a medal for Malaysia after he finished fourth in the men’s 100m freestyle in 51.15.

Welson had won silver medals in the 200m and 1,500m freestyle races on Monday.

Australian Vincent Dai splashed to gold in 50.26 while Scotland’s Craig Maclean took silver in 50.96.

The 14-year-old Nur Atikah was in smashing form in the weightlifting competition as she took gold with an overall total of 160kg – 33kg more than silver medallist Maria Mareta of Fiji.

Sixteen-year-old Muhd Erry bagged his weightlifting gold after lifting a total of 255kg.

Australia top the medal standings with 11-7-10, followed by South Africa (7-2-6) and England (5-8-7). A total of 53 countries are taking part in the Games, which cater to athletes aged between 14 and 18 years old.

Star Online : Silver glitters for swimmer Welson in Samoa

BY LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Young Malaysian swimmer Welson Sim set the pool alight with smashing performances as the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.

The tireless Welson splashed his way to two silver medals – 200m and 1500m freestyle – on the opening day of swimming competition at the Tuana’imato Sports Facility yesterday.

Welson’s silver-medal time of 1:49.22 in the 200m saw him equal Daniel Bego’s national record set during the Laos SEA Games back in 2009.

Australian swimmer Clyde Lewis touched the wall ahead of the Malaysian for the gold medal in 1:48.88. England’s Kyle Chisholm took bronze in 1:51.21.

The 18-year-old Welson hardly had time to catch his breath before was back in the pool for the 1,500m freestyle final.

Welson, who won the 400m freestyle gold in the Singapore SEA Games in June, clocked 15:57.72 for his second silver of the night.

Tom Derbyshire of England splashed to the gold in 15:31.18 while Australia’s Tristan Ludlow (16:06.06) took bronze.

After an uninspiring debut at last month’s World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, where he failed to get anywhere near his personal best timings, the Sarawak-born swimmer was delighted to finish on the podium in the Commonwealth Youth Games, which cater to athletes aged between 14 and 18 years old.

“I felt good going into this competition. I’ll try my best to win a medal in the 400m freestyle later, which is my pet event,” said Welson.

National coach Paul Birmingham Thomas said that Welson’s time in the 200m freestyle would have been good for the bronze medal at the World Youth Championships in Singapore last month.

“We skipped the world junior meet to focus on the Commonwealth Youth Games. He did well to dip under the 1:50 barrier.

“Welson had about 30 minutes to rest between the 200m freesytle and the 1,500m freestyle races.

“He was not in a position to win ... we just wanted him to secure a medal.

“It’s tough to swim a 1,500m freestyle on the first day ... I could not have asked for more from him.”

Malaysia also got a bronze through weightlifter Ronny Jesos in the men’s 56kg competition. He lifted a total of 209kg to finish behind Pakistan’s Talha Talib (217kg) and India’s Jamjang Deru (237kg).

Hari Sukan Negara 10.10.2015

ASUM Hari Sukan Negara Short Course Swimming Competition 2015

In conjunction with the Hari Sukan Negara (National Sports Day), the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia will be organising the ASUM Hari Sukan Negara Short Course Swimming Competition as follows:

Meet : ASUM Hari Sukan Negara Short Course Swimming Competition 2015
Dates : 10-11 October, 2015 (Sat & Sun)
Venue : Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Time : Starts at 8:30 am. each day
Date of Reckoning : 1 January, 2015
Events : 50m & 100m only
Rules : FINA Rules apply
Closing Date : 18 September, 5:00 pm.

IBSC swimmers are to submit the entry form to IBSC Secretariat Office latest by 14 September, 2015.

Please download the following :

a) Invites, competition rules and order of events

b) IBSC Entry Form

Latest - Refer to IBSC Team Briefing notes here.