Boey still buoyant after quitting BJSS

into the deep end of the pool by her parents.

Her father, a former high jumper and mother an ex-state sprinter — chose swimming for her “for safety reasons”.

“Swimming slowly and gradually became a habit for me even though I also took up other sports, such as badminton, diving and gymrama,” said Boey, who showed promise as a breaststroke swimmer, so much so that she was selected for the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) in March 2010 at age 14.

“I was recruited

into the Pelapis (athletes’ preparation) programme and trained under three coaches, including Paul Birmingham.

“I then moved up from the national back-up to the elite backup team.”

But she quit BJSS in December the following year due to her mediocre PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) examination results.

During her 22-month stint, Boey took part in a number of major tournaments, such as the 2011 Malaysia Games in Malacca, where she won a silver in the 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

At the Asian School Games in Singapore the same year, Boey qualified for the final of the 50m breaststroke, and also bagged a bronze at the same event in the 2011 Malaysian Open swimming championships.

A year earlier, Boey represented Malaysia in the Southeast Asia (SEA) age-group competition in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

It was only when Boey joined TARUC that she resumed competitive swimming after quitting the sport in 2013 at the age of 17.