Mayumi - golden girl of swimming
Dinesh Weerawansa
SA GAMES: Winning ten medals, including three gold medals, is
definitely an uphill task at any form of Games. Such a task for a
14-year-old schoolgirl at an eight-nation Games would look even more
difficult. But this little mermaid simply did not care about the
previous records and experience of the mighty Indians and was the
cynosure of all eyes at Sugathadasa Stadium pool.
the golden girl : Mayumi Raheem on her way to victory |
Yes! That was Mayumi Raheem, the golden girl in Sri Lanka swimming,
the one who made our little island nation proud at the recently
concluded 10th South Asian Games. She won gold medals in women’s 50m,
100m and 200m breaststroke finals, all with new South Asian Games record
timings. What a way to shine at the South Asian version of the Olympics!
Many would have wondered what her expectations when the
Singapore-based Lankan wonder girl flew to her motherland for the Games.
But Raheem says she never focused on medals, but was merely
concentrating on her timings. “Prior to the Games, I was training really
hard to achieve one goal; to do as many personal best times as possible.
I never focused on the medals,” she said.
She trains at the Singapore Swimming Club, under the elite coach,
Jaan Murphy. But she has made many sacrifices because of her sports
career. “My school and my teachers have been very supportive about the
fact that I have missed school for a long period of time to compete.
They have also made catching up as less stressful as possible, she said
in an exclusive interview from Singapore.
This year’s Singapore open meet made way for the little Lankan lass
to show her capabilities before the SA Games. “My immediate highlight
was my placings at the Singapore Open, where I set a meet record for the
200m Breast stroke. Prior to that, I went up to the semi finals in 50m
breast stroke at the Commonwealth Games early this year,” she added.
Besides that Raheem has gained valuable exposure during the last
couple of years. A few days after the Commonwealth Games in Australia,
Raheem travelled to Shanghai for the Short Course World Championships.
“Last year, I competed in the World Championships in Montreal and the
Asian Age Group in Bangkok. It was a good experience,” says Raheem,
whose family has been based in Singapore for the last six years. But she
has often participated at meets back home. At the Sri Lanka national
championships last year, she won all five events she competed and was
adjudged the best female swimmer of the meet.
Her dad is a pilot, working for Singapore Airlines and her mum is
studying at a University. “I have two very cool sisters the older one is
Machiko who is 10 years old and is studying at UWC, the younger one is
Kimiko who is 7 years and is also studying at UWC,” said Raheem of her
home front.
Both her sisters too are very talented at swimming, according to
Mayumi Raheem. “I hope they would bring glory to our country in future.
My mum did athletics in the Southern Province and played netball for the
school. My dad was an outstanding rugby player, and was also an athlete
and a swimmer,” she recalled her family connections to sports.
Raheem’s ultimate goal is the Olympics in sports and to make an
academic career in medicine to be a doctor. Her dream swim recalled the
sweet memories of Dipika Chanmugam who bagged a record seven gold medals
at the 1991 South Asian Games in Colombo and went on to compete at the
highest level. “My ultimate goal is to compete in the Olympics in
Beijing in 2008.
Academically, I would like to get into the medical field, following
in the footsteps of my loku ammi and my cousin sisters,” she added.
Finally, the golden girl in Sri Lanka swimming thanked all those who
contributed towards her success. “I have not become a champion
overnight. It was not a journey on my own. There are many people dear to
me, behind the scenes doing invisible work and making a huge difference
to my performance. I have been supported by many people.
I would like to thank my lovely parents for always being behind me,
making sure no harm comes my way, and providing me with copious amounts
of love, and my funky sisters that come tagging along behind me, always
being part of the cheering squad,” she continued.
Besides the immediate family members, Raheem had a long list of
people to thank with her coach heading the list.
“I would also like to thank my coach who has made training hard, seem
like an enjoyment and not a chore. I thank all my cousins - Shami akki,
Sachini Akki, Ruwini Akki, Amali Akki, totally awesome Kayya, and all my
other cousins who were too far away to come, heartilly, for attending
all the swimming meets I have competed in Sri Lanka despite the fact
that they are medical students and have so much work to do,” she said,
making a special request from us to carry the long list of names.
“I am also thankful to my dear aunties and uncles, including all my
previous swimming coaches, for always being behind me and making sure no
harm comes my way, allowing me to focus on swimming only,” she said.
Raheem now plans to stick to a few events and concentrate fully to
fulfill her Olympic dream in two years time. There is no point in doing
too many events. Now, I want to concentrate on just three or four
events, 50m, 100m, 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley. Her
immediate target is the 15th Asian Games in Doha in December. I want to
compete in Doha. I will make every effort to make my country proud, she
concluded.
Mayumi Raheem’s SA Games feats at-a-glance:
Gold medals:
Women’s 50m breaststroke: 34.97 sec.
Women’s 100m breaststroke: 1mt, 15.84 sec - NGR
Women’s 200m breaststroke: 2mts, 45.25 sec - NGR
Silver medals:
Women’s 50m freestyle: 28.87 seconds
Women’s 200m individual medley: 2mt, 30.98 sec.
Women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay: SL team 9:38.41
Women’s 4 x 100m medley relay: SL team 4:49.12 4x100m Free style
relay SL team 4:16.72
Bronze medals:
Women’s 100m freestyle: 1mt, 02.85 sec. - NR
Women’s 400m individual medley: 5mts, 26.21 sec. |