World No: 1 Swimmer Cindy Ong talks about Competing, Staying Beautiful & Raising 3 Extraordinary Kids

In the world of competitive swimming, Cindy Ong is no stranger to winning medals, titles, championships, and holding and breaking records the world over. Born to a family of professional swimmers, most notably her brother – Olympian swimmer, Allen Ong and aunt, Ong Mei Lin – one of Malaysia’s first female Olympian swimmers, Cindy with the same DNA has been swimming since the age of 5. Formerly a national swimmer, Cindy is a Masters swimmer today and an avid competitor in world championships. But due to the pandemic, 2020 saw an interruption to competitions and Cindy only managed to enter just one international event before the world went into lockdown. Despite that, Cindy again placed Malaysia on the world map for being the fastest in the world, for swimming the Butterfly in the women’s category and age group in a FINA Masters event. Cindy Ong Ranked No: 1 in the World In the latest FINA Masters Ranking released for the 2020 season held in Japan last January, Cindy was ranked No: 1 in the world for being the fastest in the Women’s 50m freestyle (35–39 age group) with a time of 26.71. She beat Irina Shlemova of Russia who clocked in at a time of 26.72. In the 100m Butterfly, she was ranked No: 2 with a time of 1:04.31; coming in just a little behind the 1:03.34 posted by Erika Villaecija of Spain. Cindy was one of only three Asians to make it to the FINA Top 10. The other two were Japanese swimmers who ranked No: 6 and No: 7. This is, however, not the first time Cindy has put Malaysia on the world swimming stage. In 2019, at the FINA World Masters Championship in South Korea, Cindy made history by winning five Gold and two Silver medals. Shortly after, she took home eight Gold medals at the Singapore Masters. Athletic, supple, and sexy, Cindy does an enigmatic stretch posing with an array of her medals. About FINA FINA World Masters Championships, recognised by the International Olympic Committee, is an international aquatics championship in disciplines, such as Swimming, Diving, Water polo, Open water swimming, and Synchronised swimming. FINA stands for Fédération Internationale de Natation, or in English: International Swimming Federation. Its competitions are second only to the Olympics in terms of importance in the world of aquatic sports. Her Children too are Record Holders In fact, Cindy has won so many Golds, she was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records for the “Most Gold Medals Won by an Individual Swimmer in a World Masters Championship (Female)” in 2019. But that’s not all to the fascinating achievements of Cindy Ong. Formerly swimming for the country in her earlier years and earning titles, such as Perak Sportswoman of the Year, SUKMA Games Best Sportswoman, Pingat Pekerti Terpilih (PPT) recipient awarded by the Sultan of Perak, an Olympics qualifier, and FINA all-time Top 10 multi-gold medalist, this Ipoh-born athlete is also a Psychology & Sociology double degree holder, a swimming coach, and a mother to three young children – two boys and a girl. One is already a MENSA genius and when she was just 23 months old, she entered the Malaysia Book of Records for being the youngest toddler to swim 199.35m (almost four lengths of an Olympic-sized swimming pool). The other is recognised as the fastest 10-year-old swimmer in many national level championships organised by Malaysia. Kiara Swimming Almost 4 Lengths of an Olympic-Sized Pool When She Was 23 Months Old https://www.youtube.com/watch?vW1EnrdD36eg&t124s Competing While 8 Months Pregnant Another interesting pose, this shot was taken during Cindy’s third pregnancy in 2016. Her youngest child has yet to make his own waves but when Cindy was eight months pregnant with him in 2016, she competed in the Malaysia Masters Speedo International Championship and clinched a Silver medal just behind Olympian swimmer, Siow Yi Ting. Actually, Cindy never stopped competing throughout her entire pregnancy. When she was three months pregnant, she competed in the Japan Masters Long Course Swimming Championship and won five Gold medals, and at six months pregnant, she competed in the Singapore Masters Short Course Swimming Championship and won four Gold medals. Not only that, she was back in ship shape and ready for her next competition in a mere one week after delivering her son (seven months later, she competed against nine thousand participants in the 2017 FINA World Masters in Budapest, Hungary, and came in fifth in the 100m Freestyle event). Here to tell her story to Motherhood is Cindy herself. It’ll be an inspiration to mummies as to how she lets passion, determination, and grit guide her through the pursuit of her sporting career while being a full-time mother to three young children. Cindy on Swimming, Winning, Mothering, and Being Unconventional 1.Motherhood: Congratulations for bagging the No: 1 spot in the women’s Butterfly in the Japan Masters for the 2020 season. You were the fastest in the world in the 50m freestyle and did Malaysia proud by being the first Malaysian to win top spot. Could you tell us a bit about your swimming career, how it all started, and all the awards you won? Cindy Ong with another haul of medals. Cindy Ong: Sure! I started swimming at the age of 5 and swam competitively all throughout high school and university in the US. I had broken over 100 records locally, regionally, and internationally, as well as qualified for the 2004 Olympics. I’ve won multiple awards (I'll try to list it to the best that my memory serves me): 2000 – Most Outstanding Female Athlete Award in SUPER, (Sukan Perak) 2001 – Awarded title of JBP (Jasa Bakti PEMADAM) by Ministry of Education & United Nations (as a role model for the young generation for the anti-dadah movement) 2002 till 2003 – Outstanding swimmer of the meet at Christmas Invitational at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock 2002 till 2004 – Drury Panther (US University) Honor Roll 2002 till 2004 – 18 time NCAA 2 All-American Honor by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America 2002 till 2005 – Drury University’s Dean’s List 2002 till 2004 – Drury Academic Honor Scholarship 2002 till 2004 – Academic All-American 2003 till 2004 – Nominated and chosen as National Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com twice in a season 2004 – Drury University’s MVP Women’s Program 2004 – SUKMA Most Outstanding Female Athlete Award 2005 – Perak Sportswoman of the Year 2006 – Awarded Pingat Pekerti Terpilih (P.P.T) title by the Sultan of Perak, Malaysia 2006 – US National Dean’s list 2019 – Malaysia Book of Records for Most Gold Medals Won by Individual Swimmer in World Masters Championship (FEMALE) 2. Motherhood: Is the Butterfly your favourite stroke? We think it’s technically the hardest. Why does it appeal to you? Cindy Ong: Butterfly is my absolute favourite! I actually find it easier than the other strokes. My teammates all know that sometimes when I get tired in a freestyle training set, I’ll switch to butterfly instead. I think it’s all about the technique. Once you learn the right way to swim it, it’s actually easier and more powerful than the other strokes. I have my own unique method of teaching kids to swim as the vast majority have improved drastically. 3. Motherhood: What do you need to perform the Butterfly? Technique? Stamina? Muscle strength? What’s your secret to speed? Cindy’s favourite stroke is the Butterfly, her winning stroke. Cindy Ong: Swimming is a highly technical sport, where the slightest change makes a huge difference. An efficient stroke usually takes years of coaching and feedback to develop that no other activity can duplicate. I’d say that my secret (not-so-secret after this!) to speed is “the execution of precise mechanics at a high pace as it relates to functional improvement.” I don't waste time training anything outside of what my intended speed is so that my body is accustomed to it and there are no surprises on race day itself. In other words, I’ve managed to curate a unique method that reduces training time in half, yet delivers impressive results. 4. Motherhood: We know that you're a mother of three. Please introduce your children. Cindy and family: With her husband and children (from left) Hayden, Kiara, and Connor. Kiara has an IQ of 165 and has recently been accepted into MENSA. Cindy Ong: Hayden (age 10), Kiara (age 7), and Connor (age 4). Kiara has also recently got her IQ tested as we felt that she was different from the other children after reading the entire Harry Potter series when she was 6. Her WISC (Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children) result came back and shocked us all at 165; putting her 5 points above Einstein and Stephen Hawkings. We've had to remove her from the national curriculum to keep stimulating her. 5. Motherhood: Do they also swim? We read that your daughter is also a swimmer and broke the Malaysian record as a toddler of 23 months. Could you tell us about that? Are you honing them to become national swimmers as well? Cindy’s children are all making waves of their own. (Center two:) Hayden with his medals. (Left:) Kiara with Hayden and (Right:) Kiara with Connor. Cindy Ong: Hayden is currently the fastest 10-year-old in Malaysia and Connor is enjoying his swimming lessons very much. Kiara has taken a liking to reading lately and we'll continue to nurture her interest wherever it may be. 6. Motherhood: How do you teach a child to swim? What are the benefits of swimming for children? How young should they start? “Swimming keeps a child’s heart and lungs healthy, improves strength, stability and flexibility, increases stamina, and improves balance, posture, and mental focus.” ~ Cindy Ong Cindy Ong: Depending on each level, I do a potpourri of effective activities that'll inculcate the foundation for swimming. I applied these teaching techniques on my daughter who eventually broke the Malaysian Record as the youngest toddler to swim the longest distance. The benefits of swimming are aplenty! It keeps a child’s heart and lungs healthy, improves strength, stability, and flexibility, increases stamina, and improves balance, posture, and mental focus! In higher levels of swimming, additional benefits include the ability to be on a “see food” diet (elite swimmers eat between five thousand–ten thousand calories a day), stay in top shape with the sought after swimmers’ body, and have good regulation on self-discipline (we wake up at 5am on most days). The best time to start swimming is after a child’s vaccinations are complete or when the baby’s neck is stabilised – usually between four–six months. If you miss this window, don’t panic! Starting at any age is better than not starting at all. My oldest student is 75. 7. Motherhood: How often do you train? How do you juggle the time between training and taking care of your children? One of Cindy’s training techniques. Cindy Ong: I swam up to five times weekly pre-COVID. I’ve formulated a new-age unique training method that only requires half the training time but is twice as effective. I train when the kids are in school, so it doesn’t clash with any of my mummy duties. 8. Motherhood: How did you get your flat stomach back and keep stretch marks at bay and regain your figure so soon after birth? Amazing transformation! Cindy lost all her post-pregnancy bulges in eight days! Cindy Ong: I actually lost all pregnancy weight in eight days postpartum. By the tenth day, I was even lighter than pre-pregnancy; all thanks to my safely-curated training regimen throughout my pregnancy. Stretch marks are at a minimum because I only gained a baby and not so much weight. 9. Motherhood: You competed while you were eight months pregnant and was very active in the gym right up to delivery. Did exercise and toned muscles give you an easy delivery? Cindy Ong: Unfortunately, my eldest boy was a preemie at thirty-five weeks, so all subsequent pregnancies were caesarean. However, staying fit and active definitely helped as I debunked most of the traditional beliefs. I’m a very knowledge-based person and didn't follow any “pantang” or restrictions during and after pregnancy. I actually drove myself in and out of the hospital for all my pregnancies and showered in the hospital after caesarean as well. I was also back in the pool two weeks postpartum after my second and third child. 10. Motherhood: What kind of exercises out of the water did you do while pregnant? What was your exercise regime like in and out of the pool? What was your diet like? Cindy’s growing belly during her pregnancy. As can be seen, she never gained much weight and exercised, swam, and competed throughout her pregnancy. Cindy Ong: I swam throughout my pregnancies and practised prenatal yoga. I also went to the gym and lifted light weights (safely) and modified many of the exercises to suit a growing belly. On food, I’ve always been on a “see-food” diet and not fussy at all. I don't consider myself adhering to any special diets other than perhaps a diet that’s higher in protein and slightly lower in carbs. I don’t necessarily cut sugar or fat, but at the same time, I don’t intentionally eat cake daily, too (but I DO have a sweet tooth!). 11. Motherhood: How do you shed baby weight fast? Many mothers would like to know how you did it? How soon after delivery did you begin exercising and training? Cindy Ong: I don’t think I needed to shed because I didn’t really put on any “weight”. I gained a baby during pregnancy and maintained my own weight throughout. I’d advise all women to stay active in their own ways to stay in top shape. There are days that I don’t exercise and my husband actually commented that I'm grumpier and complained more when I don't. 12. Motherhood: How do you keep your hair so beautiful when you spend so much time in the pool? How do you keep it from chlorine damage? Can you share some skin and hair care secrets? Being mum. Cindy maintains her lovely tresses and clear skin. Cindy Ong: I’m actually a VERY girly-girl and a beauty junkie! I only use good quality shampoos, and instead of conditioner, I use masks or hair treatments on a daily basis. Hydrating the hair prior to entering the pool also helps to minimise the damage. I try to stay away from hair dryers unless absolutely necessary and always have a leave-in spray. For skin, there’s nothing better than hydration. My daily Vitamin C intake is no less than 3g to 4g. Daily sweat-proof gel sunscreen is a must, so it doesn’t clog pores and if I need to be under the sun exposure, I even take oral sunscreen! 13. Motherhood: Finally, tell us about your plans about breaking the World Record in the Masters mixed relay with new team member, Vladimir Morozov (Russian competitive swimmer, Olympian and Masters medalist, and record-holder). How is that going on and when will the event be held? Cindy on theLITEBreakfast Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v5GvsxBKFNrk Cindy Ong: The idea actually came from Vlad who gave me a birthday present last year through a video, saying we should team up and break a world record together. The pandemic lasted longer than foreseeable at that time and pools were closed nationwide. I may have swum only 12 weeks in the entire year, so I think realistically, it might take a bit longer to get back on track. Thankfully, I’ve been doing swim-specific land training during the lockdown at home, which has helped me maintain my fitness. If I have to put a timeline to it, I’d say probably within the next two to three years. *You can follow Cindy on her Instagram page: @cindy_ong_swimmer *All images courtesy of Cindy Ong. And there you have it – How to be a consummate athlete, self-driven winner, and full-time mother all at the same time. For more real-life stories on successful mothers, tune in to Motherhood.com.my.

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