NATIONAL coach Abu Bakar Abdul Manaf is confident his surfers are fit enough to fight for medals at the Philippines Sea Games next month.
“We started our preparations in January and have been training at home and abroad,” he said, as surfing gets ready to make its debut at the biennial Games from Dec 2-8 in San Juan, also known as the ‘Surfing Capital of the Philippines’.
“The most important thing in surfing is fitness because we are constantly fighting against the waves. Our energy levels need to be high and we have done a lot of gym work to maintain fitness.
“Surfers are given 25 minutes (to perform) and must choose their two best attempts within that timeframe.
“In that period, you can only manage 10 attempts, at the most. So, I always train my athletes to take every wave that comes their way.”
The national surfers, Abu Bakar said, would usually spend time training and competing abroad in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Japan whenever conditions were not suitable in Malaysia.
“We surf in Malaysia from November to February. During the other months, we usually go to places like Bali, Batu Karas and Mentawai in Indonesia or even Thailand, India and Japan where there are waves all year round,” added Abu Bakar, who has almost three decades of experience in the extremely demanding sport.
In the Sea Games, Malaysia will compete in the men and women’s short board as well as men’s long board events.
The Sea Games surfing squad comprises Mona Rasidah Abdul Rasid, Nur Alia Erika Mohd Azmi, Didaqt Musadiq, Mohd Nazrin Nasruddin and Semmy Hassan.