KEEN on making her Olympic debut in Paris in July, Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Xiandi Chua has been in deep training at the famed Nunawading Swimming Club in Melbourne, Australia since early last year, according to his father Roy Chua.
“This training was arranged through former national swimmer Akiko Thomson Guevarra, and we went there to talk to its coaches and found the environment ideal for Xiandi’s training to perform better in international competitions,” said Chua.
“There, she is able to push herself and compete with strong quality Australian swimmers,” added the elder Chua, who credited the club for her daughter’s record-breaking performance in the women’s 200-meter backstroke in the Cambodia SEA Games last year.
Chua set a new SEA Games and national record of two minutes and 13.20 seconds in bagging the gold in the Morodok Techno National Aquatics Center in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, six seconds faster than her previous best.
Formed in 1960, the Nunawading Swimming Club is known for its strong swimming program in Victoria State. Among those who had served as head coach was Leigh Nugent, the chief mentor of the Australian national swimming squad that saw action in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Chua said the swimmer’s progress is periodically being monitored by former her personal coach, former national squad mentor Carlos “Pinky” Brosas, who regularly communicates with the Nunawading Swimming Club coaches.
The swimmer is within striking distance of the Olympic qualifying time of 2:10.39 in the women’s 200-meter backstroke, and could lower her time as she joins the “lean and mean” Philippine squad that will see action in the 21st World Aquatics Championships opening in Doha, Qatar tomorrow.
Chua said his daughter will also compete in the women’s 200 and 400-invidual medley events.
The other members of the national team are Filipino-Canadian Kayla Sanchez, who is also bidding to qualify for the Paris Summer Games; Jarrod Hatch, Jerard Jacinto, Jasmine Alkaldi, Tiea Salvino and Tanya dela Cruz.
