Heidi puts aside illness to grab gold

DESPITE being ill and on antibiotics, Heidi Gan was a class above yesterday as she easily won the women’s 10km open water swimming race gold medal at Putrajaya Lake

The 29-year-old finished the six-lap race in 2’11:02 to finish ahead of Thailand’s silver medallist Benjaporn Sriphanomthorn (2’16:37) and Singapore’s bronze medallist Chantal Liew (2’21:30).

Another Malaysian, Angela Chieng, 20, finished just outside the top three by taking fourth position in 2’24:54.

But after the race, Heidi indicated that she is uncertain whether she would compete again in 10km races.

“I worked so hard for this race and did not really have a break after the Rio Olympics. My sole aim was to win the Sea Games title as I really wanted to achieve it in front of the fans here,” said Heidi, who won the 5km and 10km open water races at the 2011 Indonesia Sea Games, yesterday.

“I wanted to win in style by dominating the race today and I did that. I must thank my coach Matt Magee who has been working with me for the last 11 years. My family were also here and they gave me the added motivation.”

Heidi said it was difficult to prepare for the Sea Games as she has been sick for more than half of the season and also carrying injuries.

“But I knew I had to keep on training to achieve the target here. I worked so hard to overcome my injuries and illness.

“I was sick (with viral fever and flu) all week…I am still on antibiotics but the win today proves that if you really want something and work hard for it, you will achieve it against all odds.

“When I was in the lake for the race, I did not think about my illness and injuries…I just swam the way I had planned and won,” said the Perth-based Heidi, a qualified lawyer, who trains 10 times a week covering a total of 80 kilometres in open water swimming.

Heidi was once a pool swimmer who won a silver (4x100m freestyle relay) and a bronze (4x200m freestyle relay) at the 2007 Korat Sea Games.

However, she opted for open water racing in 2010 where she went on to compete in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.

On the race, Heidi said she was worried that she would suffer from exhaustion when she was way ahead of the other competitors.

“I was in front the entire time. I swam at a fast pace as I knew if I had slowed down, others would catch up as they are better than me in the pool.

“But I was also worried that I would overheat and suffer from exhaustion halfway in the race. I needed to focus even though I had a big margin over others,” she said.

Heidi said she will take a break before deciding on her future.

“I will take a break..maybe today was my last 10km race…if it is then I am glad to have won today for Malaysia. I will decide later,” she said.

Heidi also congratulated Kevin Yeap for his success in the men’s competition.

“I am very happy for Kevin as today is his final race before he retires. He worked so hard for this,” Heidi added.

Heidi will also compete in the women's 4x200m freestyle event. Ajitpal Singh