AT times, Lew Yih Mei, wonders whether younger sister Yih Wey is the same girl she had to coerce into taking swimming lessons.
In her place now is a Port Dickson High School student who is down to compete against the world’s best in the women’s 400 metres individual medley at the Beijing Olympic Games.
“I’m amazed at what I have accomplished.
I must thank my sister Yih Mei for forcing me into the pool when I was young,” said the 17-year-old, who will be sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia in November, recently.
“Believe me, there was a time when I thought this would never happen. When I was young, I wasn’t always up for what I would call constructive activity.” “My earliest memories of swimming are that I hated it. I was one of those lazy people.
“I was five or six years old and I’d be in the pool thinking ‘Hey, I could be home playing ‘Counter Strike’ (a computer game) right now. So I had what you would call a bad attitude.” While other youngsters would frolic in the water at the Port Dickson Yacht Club, Yih Wey would sneak off to the changing room where she would hide in the shower until her mother came to pick her up.
“I wouldn’t come out. I would be in the shower for an hour... I just didn’t want to be out there,” she said.
Yih Wey decided to stop swimming for good when she was in standard one but decided to try it out again two years later.
“During this period, my parents wanted me to venture into a different sport but I let them know that I was uninterested.” “However, my liking to the pool grew when my sister started winning state-level competitions.” “I must credit my coach Lewin Lim then for making swimming fun for me. He taught me the basics of swimming and I begin to value training and now I’m reaping the seeds of my labour,” said Yih Wey, who made her international debut at the 2005 Asian Schools Championships in Bangkok, where she won a silver and bronze.
Although she will be sitting for her SPM in November, she has not been attending school for the past two months due to training.
“I have been under intensive training under national coach Paul Thomas Birmingham at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil. I’m training hard as I’m determined to break my own national record in Beijing,” said Yih Wey, who holds the national record at 4 minutes 50.52 seconds.
Her books, though, are not totally neglected as studying is part of her timetable, even now.
“I plan to do well in my exams. I’m rather undecided whether to continue swimming or concentrate on my studies in the future.
“However, that is a decision I will make later as my focus now is on the Olympics.”
» FACT FILE
LEW YIH WEY
■ Date of birth: June 27, 1991
■ Hometown: Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan
■ Weight: 53kg
■ Coach: Paul Thomas Birmingham
■ Likes: Computer games
■ Dislikes: None
■ Favourite movie: None
■ Favourite food: Chinese
■ Favourite actor/actress: Jet Li and Jacky Chan
■ Career high: Qualifying for Beijing Olympics
■ Career low: None
■ Previous Olympic appearances: Debutant
■ Beijing events: 400m individual medley
■ Competition dates: Aug 9-10
New Straits Times
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