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Heidi
GAN |
Sport |
Open Water Swimming |
NOC |
Malaysia
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Gender | Women |
Born | 08 Oct 1988
in Adelaide, AUS |
Height | 1.63 m |
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Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Perth, WA, AUS |
General Interest |
Famous relatives |
Her cousin Dr Lennard Lee swam the English Channel in 2004. (thestar.com.my, 31 May 2012) |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Lawyer |
General Interest |
Other information |
RETIREMENT She announced her retirement from competitive swimming in June 2019. "Swimming has been my life for the last 25 years and I wouldn't have had the opportunities to achieve as much as I did in my career without the unconditional support of my coach Matt Magee and all the other coaches I've had in the past, my family, my club Perth City Swimming Club, and of course my friends, mentors and supporters." (LinkedIn profile, 13 Jun 2019; stadiumastro.com, 13 Jun 2019; Instagram profile, 12 Jun 2019)
REPRESENTING MALAYSIA Born in Australia to Malaysian parents, she had the choice to compete for both nations before opting to swim for her parents' country of birth. "When I was about 15, Malaysia spotted me in Australia. They asked if I wanted to swim with them at that time. I said yes so I could get some good race experience and travel. I got chances that I might not have had if I had been on the Australian team." (news.yahoo.com, 11 Dec 2014; uwa.edu.au, 11 Oct 2013)
FURTHER EDUCATION She has studied for a graduate diploma in legal practice at the College of Law in Sydney, NSW, Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 2018) |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Commerce, Law - University of Western Australia: Perth, WA, AUS |
General Interest |
Hobbies |
Baking, shopping, socialising with friends, walking her dogs. (elle.my, 16 Aug 2016; heidigan.com, 13 Jun 2015) |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Representing Malaysia at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016, and winning a gold medal in the 10km at the 2017 South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (elle.my, 16 Aug 2016; purelyb.com, 20 Sep 2017; Facebook page, 26 May 2018) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
"I got into open water swimming because I joined a surf life saving club during my early days of university, and this involved a lot of ocean swimming. I had the opportunity to do a few open water swimming races and since I already had some experience, I gave it a go and really enjoyed it." |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She first tried swimming at age five. She began concentrating on open water swimming in 2010 when she attended university. |
Further Personal Information |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Injuries |
She suffered a shoulder injury in early 2016. (elle.my, 16 Aug 2016)
She has suffered a tear in her hip and rolled ankles during her career. (elle.my, 16 Aug 2016) |
Other sports |
She has also represented Malaysia in swimming, and competed in freestyle relays at the South East Asian Games in 2007, 2009 and 2017. (SportsDeskOnline, 04 Jun 2018) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"Try your best in whatever you do. Don't make excuses, be accountable for your actions, make no compromises in your pursuit for excellence and enjoy every minute." (purelyb.com, 20 Sep 2017) |
Most influential person in career |
Her parents. (news.uwa.edu.au, 08 Mar 2018) |
Milestones |
In 2012 she became the first swimmer to represent Malaysia in open water swimming at the Olympic Games. (uwa.edu.au, 28 Feb 2018; SportsDeskOnline, 04 Jun 2018) |
World Championships |
Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
21 |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
5km |
1:00:52.1 |
33 |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
10km |
2:00:34.4 |
29 |
2013 |
Barcelona, ESP |
10km |
1:59:01.4 |
World Cup |
Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
59 |
2017 |
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10km |
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30 |
2017 |
Abu Dhabi, UAE |
10km |
1:55:57.1 |
20 |
2016 |
Abu Dhabi, UAE |
10km |
1:59:08.90 |
15 |
2015 |
Hong Kong, CHN |
10km |
2:06:52.30 |
3 |
2015 |
Nouméa, NCL |
10km |
2:12:34.10 |
36 |
2015 |
San Miguel de Cozumel, MEX |
10km |
1:53:42.00 |
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2014 |
Setúbal, POR |
10km |
DNF |
17 |
2013 |
Hong Kong, CHN |
10km |
2:03:31.6 |
Asian Championships |
Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
3 |
2017 |
Putrajaya, MAS |
5km |
1:05:03.5 |
1 |
2017 |
Putrajaya, MAS |
10km |
2:17:00.7 |
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