KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand's Thitirat Charoensup has emerged as the region's next big thing in open water swimming.
At just 14, Thitirat upstaged her older rivals to be crowned the overall winner of the women's 5km category on the opening day of the inaugural Southeast Asian Open Water Swimming Championships at the Putrajaya Lake today.
Thitirat stole the limelight when she crossed the finish line with a time of 1:00:57.4, 16 seconds ahead of Indonesian Adinda Larasati Dewi Kirana (1:01:13.7), who's nine years her senior.
Pleased to finish first in her maiden international meet, she said: "It feels great to be winning big in my first international outing. I have been the Thai No 1 for some time and I can proudly call myself the South-East Asian No 1 after today," said Thitirat, who's also the winner of the girls' 14-15 category.
"I really enjoyed the battle with Adinda. We went neck and neck for the first four kilometres. After the race, we spoke and became friends."
The men's overall crown went to Aflah Fadlan Prawira, who lived up to his favourite tag by clocking 55:21.4 seconds to beat second-placed Nattapon Intarachaikij of Thailand (56:21.2).
The 25-year-old later admitted winning at the Putrajaya Lake was the ideal homecoming, six years after he finished third behind Malaysia's Kevin Yeap who won gold at the 2017 Sea Games.
"Back in 2017, I finished behind Malaysia's open water home legend. I am glad to become champion this time at this wonderful venue. I enjoy competing here. The race course was exceptional," said Aflah.
"It's a good open water course, and more importantly a great initiative for the sport. You need experience in events like this, and I'm happy to finish as champion."
Aflah, who made his Olympics debut in Tokyo two years ago in the 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle, has set his sights on qualifying for Paris 2024 in the open water discipline.
Lim Kai Yi finished as the top Malaysian male in eighth place with a time of 59:04.6, while Magdalene Lau finished as the top Malaysian female in fifth with a time of 1:03:48.4.
Their efforts saw them claimed in their respective boys and girls' 16-17 age-group categories.
Kai Yi was happy with his finish having tested himself in a lake for the first time.
"I'm hoping to represent Malaysia at the Sea Games in 2025, so I think this result serves as a good start for me," he said.
Magdalene also put her skills in the lake for the first time and came away satisfied.
"Swimming in a lake is different compared to the pool or the sea. To get a clear sighting of the race can be challenging, but I am happy I rose to the test to finish as the fastest Malaysian," she said.
The SEAOWSC will resume with the 10km races today and the team relay event Saturday.