KUCHING: State Sukma swimmer Erika Kong will make her debut splash at the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India from Oct 3-14.
PRIDE OF SARAWAK: Erika with her parents after winning the women’s 200m breaststroke during Sukma XIII at Aquatics Centre, Hang Jebat Sports Complex in Melaka, in this June 15 file photo.
Sarawak swimmer to make her Commonwealth Games debut
The double gold medallist at Sukma XIII was among the two Sarawakians and 11 others who were selected for the Games.
She will join another Sarawakian Daniel Bego who has competed at the 2006 Melbourne Games.
The other swimmers representing Malaysia at the Delhi Games are Khoo Cai Lin, Foo Jian Beng, Kevin Yeap, Joshua Lee, Kevin Lim, Lueng Chii Lin, Chui Lai Kawan, Chan Kar Yan, Ian James Barr, Yap See Tuan and Christina Loh.
In confirming this yesterday, her father and personal trainer Anthony Kong said it was a great honour for his 15-year-old daughter and a chance for her to compete at a higher level.
“Erika will go to New Delhi after her PMR exam problem has been sorted out by Education Department, Ministry of Youth and Sports and her school Lodge Secondary School,” said Kong.
According to him, the authorities concerned had decided to use the mock exam results as the final results for her PMR.
Erika will sit for the mock exam from Aug 30 to Sept 3 after which she would report for centralised training with the national team.
“It is a very testing time for Erika because she has to juggle her time between swimming and studies.
“But I believe competing at the Commonwealth Games will be a very good experience for her because she gets to swim against world-class swimmers and champions from United Kingdom and Australia,” he said.
She has been entered for the women’s 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
“Erika will need to prepare early and work very hard for the events which will also pave her way to swim in the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November this year,” said Kong.
For the time being, Erika will continue with her usual training programme at Water Park in BDC which is 11 sessions a week with two sessions daily from Monday to Saturday. Wednesday morning and Sunday are off-days for the rising swimming star.
“After her mock exam, we will need to go up a gear and intensify her training which will be increased to three sessions daily for two weeks,” Kong disclosed.
Erika won two golds, broke a national record and three bronzes at Sukma XIII in Melaka in June.
Prior to Sukma XIII, Erika won two gold, one silver and one bronze medals from the Southeast Asia (SEA) Age Group swimming championship at Trace College Aquatic Pool in Manila.
The golds were won in the girls 50m and 200m breaststrokes while the silver was won in the 100m breaststroke and the bronze in the 200m individual medley.
Erika also won six golds, four silvers at the National Age Group Swimming Championship as well as seven golds and four silvers at the Malaysian Schools Sports Council Swimming Championship.
Erika OK for Delhi