With their energetic routine during the Pursuit party, Malaysia’s synchronised swimmers took the audience’s collective breath away. The large rooftop swimming pool at Skybar became a “stage” for Stephanie Gan Hua Wei and Foong Yannie, the artistic swimming duo that took part in the Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia.
Placed eighth in their category at the Asian Games, their technical skill was on full display; this included the flamingo position with a lift that happened in a glimpse of a second. As a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, it took two weeks for the pair to perfect their three minute routine and it involved tons of preparation in term of attire and makeup.
“Makeup preparation takes two hours and this time we did it in a spontaneous way. There is no need of setting spray because we used a waterproof makeup like foundation, eyeshadow and lipstick,” said Stephanie.
Since they were rushing for time, this writer got to watch them preparing themselves while being interviewed. The curiosity starts to emerge when I saw a strange thick mixture that they put on their hair and it turns out it is not flax seed.
“We put gelatin in our hair as it’s waterproof and sticks very well. It’s kind of like hairspray but works wonderfully in the water! The layering depends on how long we will be inside the water and usually for competition we will apply it very thick,” explained Yannie.
Experienced in solo, group and duet performances, Stephanie shared her favourite thing about making a splash. “What I like the most about synchronised swimming is doing ‘highlights’. Specifically, when someone pushes me from inside of the water and I jump up. Strength is required to push someone high!”
With sparkling swimsuits – the same ones they wore during the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2018 in Japan – the duo performed their routine to “Santa Baby” and “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. It was mesmerising to see these real life mermaids in action.
