13-year-old swimmer eyes ticket to Sukma XXI
KUCHING: Shanise Jauwa Joseline Adong, who is only 13, is making good progress with her mission to represent Sarawak in the coming Malaysia Games (Sukma) XXI in August.
However, the student of Lodge International Primary School in Kuching will have to beat the qualifying times to earn her place in the state team.
At this year’s 50th Sarawak Age Group Championships in January the rising star splashed to five gold, one silver and three bronze medals, broke three records and won the Girls 13-14 Best Swimmer award.
Incidentally, all the three records that she broke were set by Kelly Teo Yao in 2020.
Shanise won the 50m backstroke with a new time of 32.54s (old record: 33.16s), 100m backstroke in 1:08.86 (1:11.79) and 200m backstroke in 2:29.01 (2:32.62).
“I am very happy with the improvement of the times posted during the State age group meet and I have pushed myself very hard during the training.
“I am looking forward to improving my personal best times at the 59th Malaysia Invitational Age Group (MIAG) Swimming Championship at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur from April 25 to 28,” she told The Borneo Post.
“The MIAG will also be a good opportunity for me to beat the qualifying times and get selected to the Sarawak Sukma XXI swimming team while the Kuching Age Group (Meet) in May is another competition where I can try to qualify at the last minute,” added Shanise.
The qualifying times that Shanise needs to beat in her events are 50m backstroke (31.30s), 100m backstroke (1:07.41) and 200m backstroke (2:26.10).
She is grateful to KASA coach Rhona Lai and former national swimmer Erika Kong Jia Jia for valuable tips on improving her strokes.
She also thanked other coaches who have guided her in earlier years.