Chii Lin remains level-headed

HER involvement into the world of swimming was quite by accident.

Leung Chii Lin’s brother, Jiun Shayang, was suffering from asthma and was told that swimming could cure him and so, as a four-year-old, she tagged along to the Likas Sports Complex swimming pool in Kota Kinabalu.

That was 12 years ago. Today, Chii Lin is one of Malaysia’s brightest young stars.

Her potential in the sport caught the eye of several coaches in Sabah, when in her first tournament at seven, she won five gold medals in the State Under-12 championships.

Now, the 17-year-old is preparing for her biggest challenge yet — the Beijing Olympic Games.

She proved her prowess in the sport when she broke the 50m freestyle national record by clocking 26.18 seconds to qualify for the Beijing Games, at the Malaysia Open in May.

Chii Lin is now the envy of her peers, but her success has not come without pain.

“Currently, I have to be at the pool by 5.30am and I train for two and a half hours. Then I go to school and after that I take a nap. Next thing you know, I am back at the pool.

At night, I attend tuition before heading home to revise some more,” she said.

Chii Lin will be sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations in November.

It may seem like a lot to handle for a 17-year-old but Chii Lin is coping admirably.

“My parents don’t pressure me to do well at the pool or to do well in studies. They let me set my own pace. I guess their confidence helps a lot.” “My older brother and sister were also national swimmers and they often advice me on how to divide my time between school and studies,” said Chii Lin, who hopes to pursue a career in Sports Science in the near future.

So what does it feel like to be famous at such a young age? Pausing for several seconds, Chii Lin responded that she is far from “feeling inflated” with all the accolades.

“I’m just a normal person and my friends are those who I meet in school. I also enjoy shopping but usually do this with mum,” she said.

In Beijing, she has a double mission.

The first challenge is to break her own national record while her second is to revise for the SPM.

“Swimming is a great thing but I don’t want to make a career out of it. Education comes first and I hope to be successful in it,” added Chii Lin.

NST