Aaliyah aims to grab all three titles at home Games
KUALA LUMPUR: Water skier Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah has come a long way since her SEA Games debut in Palembang 2011.
She exceeded expectations to emerge as Malaysia’s youngest-ever gold medallist – aged eight – by winning the tricks event.
Aliyah has since gone on to reach greater heights, including bagging two golds at the Singapore Games in 2015 and holding the Asian record in tricks with a 7,600 total.
Now Aaliyah, who turns 14 on Saturday, is taking the KL Games more seriously.
Besides looking to defend her tricks and overall gold medals, the spunky teenager has also set her sights on the slalom and jump events.
And she looks to be on the right track after achieving personal bests in both slalom and jump during a six-week training stint in Florida in May.
Her slalom score of 0.5 buoys/12m rope/55kph is better than the 3/12/55 score posted by Singapore’s Sasha Christian en route to winning gold at Singapore 2015.
In jump, Aaliyah’s new personal best of 32m is also way better than the 29m mark posted by Indonesia’s Rossi Amir two years ago.
“In Palembang six years ago, I was just so little and young and I didn’t really know what was going on. I just wanted to have fun,” said Aaliyah.
“Now, I’m more prepared for the SEA Games. There are targets to meet and there’s also the pressure of being the hosts.
“I think the stint in Florida has been very good because I achieved personal bests in both slalom and jump.
“Those two events are my main focus now because my level in tricks is quite high for the SEA Games and I’m only looking to be consistent and stand up on my runs.
“There’s still a lot of time before the Games and a lot more training to be done. It’s important that I pace myself well and peak when it matters.”
Aaliyah’s preparation will be given a boost when Argentine coach Larry Gisler arrives next week to help the water ski team in their final build-up to the Games.
She will also compete in a preGames event at the Water Sport Complex in Putrajaya from July 29-30.