Swimming legend shares his philosophy of success.
Swimming legend Jeffrey always sees the glass as half full
IN competitive swimming, sprint events are usually seen as the more glamorous and exciting ones.
The long-distance races, though, is perfect for spectators at the pool and for those viewers watching at home, they can get a snack or go for a toilet break!
I knew from an early age that I would never become a world-class sprinter, as I have more of the slow-twitch muscle fibres (it’s one type of the muscle fibres ideal for endurance events).
Those with fast-twitch fibres are better suited for the shorter distances.
I couldn’t do short distances but I didn’t see it as something negative as my philosophy is to always look at the glass half full.
So, I concentrated on the events I was good at – the 400m and 1,500m freestyle – and I managed to have a successful swimming career, which included several memorable moments.
One of those unforgettable moments was when I won my first South East Asian (SEA) Games gold medal in Jakarta in 1987.
I still remember it vividly, because I had qualified for the Games under Category B, which meant I had to pay my own way in order to take part, and I would only be reimbursed if I won a medal.
At that time, not many people would have expected this 15-yearold boy from Penang to even get on the podium, let alone win a gold.
So, it was a massive surprise when I managed to achieve this feat in the 400m freestyle, and what was even more surprising was that I broke the SEA Games record and national record in the process!
And the icing on the cake came a few days later when I won my second gold medal in the 1,500m freestyle.
From then on, I ruled the pool in the 400m and 1,500m freestyle events at the SEA Games, ending up with a total of eight gold medals in my pet events.
My career reached even loftier heights in 1991 at the World University Games in Sheffield,
England, where I smashed the national record in the 1,500m by more than 20 seconds with a time of 15:23.61.
It was the 14th-fastest time in the world that year, as well as a new Asian record.
More than 28 years later, it is still the fastest time ever by a Malaysian in this event.
The main highlight of my career was the opportunity to compete in not just one but two Olympic Games.
In 1988, when I was only 16 years old, I didn’t expect to go to the Seoul Olympics but I was chosen after winning two silver medals at the Asian Swimming Championships earlier that year.
It was an incredible experience, and in Seoul, I met someone who would have a profound influence on my swimming career.
Matt Cetlinski was an American swimmer who finished fourth in the 400m and 1,500m freestyle events but went on to win a gold medal as a member of the USA’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
Matt was humble and approachable, and we became friends and eventually my mentor. We are still in contact with each other to this day!
I asked him if he could share some advice with me, and he encouraged me to move to the US to study and train, which led me to pursue my tertiary education at the University of Southern California (USC).
I represented USC at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One Championships, and in 1993, I became the first Malaysian swimmer to become an honorary “AllAmerican”, a title one gets by being one of the top eight swimmers in a particular event, which in my case was the 1,650 yards freestyle (which is similar to the 1,500m).
I competed in my second Olympics, in Barcelona in 1992, and I improved from 29th place in Seoul to 20th in the Catalan capital four years later.
In 1994, I graduated from the USC with a degree in broadcast journalism and retired from competitive swimming. I joined TV3, working there till 1997, then I continued to work in the media industry on a freelance basis, before moving to London in 2002.
I returned to Malaysia in 2016, at which time I was invited to join the Malaysian Olympians Association (MOA) as the deputy president.
My advice to any young swimmer and athlete is – focus on what is within your control, such as training as hard and as smart as you can, looking after your diet and nutrition, getting plenty of rest, working on your strength and conditioning, as well as fine-tuning your mental preparations.
Not everyone will be able to compete in the Olympics. However, one can set some achievable goals first, such as representing the club, school or state, then aiming to qualify for the national championships, and then progressing to international competitions such as the SEA Games.
Hopefully, in the near future, we will see many more Malaysians competing at major competitions such as the World Championships and the Olympics and excelling.
I’m certain that there are individuals in this country who are extremely talented in sports, but perhaps they are unable to get adequate training or have limited access to funding.
One of the biggest challenges in sports development is how best to nurture that talent.
For me, training overseas, especially in the United States, really helped improve my swimming performance.
I was fortunate to be given this opportunity, but many talented athletes are not so lucky.
Talent and hard work, combined with various other factors, can help make an athlete excel in his or her chosen sport.
It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child – in the case of sporting success, it takes a community or group of people to raise a champion.
With the right support and encouragement, anything is possible! — Narrated to JOASH EE DE SILVA