Monica Liew - We Salute You!

From THE STAR, Friday September 15, 2006

Now mother of Channel swimmer braves the waves

LONDON: Monica Liew, the 50-year-old mother of English Channel swimmer Lennard Lee, was nearly rammed by the escort boat during her historic swim relay across the channel on Wednesday.

She said an initial confusion caused her to stray into the path of the boat, instead of swimming on the left side as planned where the pilot could see her.

"I could not see the boat and when I turned around, I was shocked to see its bow looming just a few metres behind me.

"I panicked and swam desperately away just as the crew shouted to me to swim back to the left side where they could see me," she said in describing the most terrifying moment of her life.

Liew was part of a six-member relay team that included two disabled swimmers.

ONE GRITTY LADY: Liew, mother of Channel swimmer Lee (right), battling the waves during one of her two legs of the swim relay across the English Channel on Wednesday.

She had another close brush with death just moments after the first incident.

While struggling behind the boat in her bid to get back to the left side, she was nearly overcome by the fumes from the engine and the heavy swell trailing behind.

"I was fighting for survival, with the smoke choking me as I struggled to regain my strokes in the 10 degree waters.

"I had felt like giving up and wondering what was I doing there when I could have been sleeping comfortably in bed," she said, adding that her greatest fear then was whether she could last her first one hour.

Each member had to swim about 7.2km in two one-hour legs, with Liew being the fourth swimmer at 6am and noon for the 40km crossing.

Despite the ordeal, she planned to return for a two-way relay swim in the channel next year with the same group, which she described as a great team.

"I love the sea and would not give it up for anything," said the feisty woman from Kuching.

Liew, a student radiotherapist at University College London Hospital, said she was inspired by her son Lennard's feat in 2004. She is married to Dr Lee Siow Ming.

"But now, I'm beginning to feel my age as my body is aching all over," she said of her feat which her team completed in 13 hours, 56 minutes.

They started at 3.03am (10.03am Malaysian time) from Abbott’s Cliff Beach between Dover and Folkestone and completed the swim at 4.59pm (11.59pm Malaysian time) in Cap Blanca Petite, south of Calais in France.