‘Little mermaid’ Zara aged 11 looks to make a splash at SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR – Zara Aleesya Mohamad Suadi is only 11-years-old, but the precocious national swimmer will race with adult athletes in the finswimming event at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from May 5 to 17.

Since Zara swims with fins, she can be likened to a “little mermaid”, and was sent for swimming classes as early as six because her parents, Mohamad Suadi Samsuddin and Haslinda Haron, wanted their only child to do something more meaningful and avoid getting stuck with e-gadgets.

However, no one guessed the Year 5 student at SK (P) Methodist 2 Melaka would morph into Malaysia’s youngest athlete for this year’s Games after venturing into finswimming at the beginning of the year.

The young athlete loves swimming because she likes frolicking in the water with free abandon.

“Zara is excited to go to the SEA Games, but a little nervous because she is still young. It’s really nervy going up against adults, but having reached this level, there is no looking back or backing down, so Zara will do her best.

“It has become more challenging now we know that we are up against adults, and hope to be able to reach the set targets. In the beginning, the teaching and swimming training schedule was quite strict, but now it is normal and it is not difficult to manage time,” Zara said when met.

She is also excited to get on a plane and fly abroad for the first time, and looks forward to the atmosphere at the games, with athletes from 11 Southeast Asian countries participating.

Zara was selected to represent the country in the 4x100m surface relay and 4x50m surface relay after winning five gold medals and one silver at the 2023 Malaysian Finswimming Championships in Seremban earlier this year, where she recorded the fourth-fastest time in the surface event.

Commenting on the difference between finswimming and normal swimming, she said it is almost the same but uses equipment such as monofins (fins that hold both legs like a mermaid) or bi-fins (one fin for each leg).

Zara’s involvement in sports is not surprising, as both her parents were active in athletics. Her father Suadi is a teacher and coach at Melaka Sports School, while Haslinda is a former national sprinter.

Haslinda said at first she and her husband were surprised to see Zara’s audacity to compete with adult swimmers, but were willing to spend up to RM6,000 to get equipment approved by the World Underwater Federation – bought from Ukraine for official training and tournament use – after seeing her potential.

“She is in the national team because of her prestige, not a random choice. We hope she can be independent during the SEA Games, and can contribute to the Malaysian team.

“There is no development for athletics in Melaka, there is only (development for) swimming and gymnasium. We sent her to participate in swimming because there is a special club and trainer for children. We decided to train her in terms of endurance, discipline and fill her schedule with beneficial activities instead of gadgets and TV,” Haslinda explained.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Finswimming Association president S. Ravivarma is optimistic that the national team, represented by eight swimmers for this year’s Games, will be able to win a medal after returning empty-handed from their first appearance in Hanoi last year.

“Vietnam and Indonesia remain the main challengers because they have been active in this sport for a long time compared to Malaysia. But we hope to provide a challenge because the preparation this time is better with several training centres. Besides, this sport is also becoming popular in Malaysia,” he said.

The main category of Finswimming is “surface”, which sees swimmers race on the surface of the water using a snorkel, monofins, and goggles, while for the “bi-fin” category, athletes swim on the surface of the water wearing goggles, a snorkel, and a pair of fins using freestyle, usually for 50m and 100m races.

Meanwhile, “apnoea” finswimming involves an underwater race wearing goggles and a monofin and holding your breath for 50m, while “immersion” uses the same concept, but swimmers use compressed air cylinders, with a race distance of over 100m. – Bernama, March 23, 2023