Alumni Swimmer Nisha Kijkanakorn wins bronze in the SEA 100m Breaststroke Final

This past week, something wonderful happened for one of our alumni and a former swimming star of Bangkok Prep.

Nisha Kijkanakorn won a bronze medal in the SEA 100m Breaststroke final. I have attached the race for you here:

What is so wonderful about that is that our Nisha is still improving, and with the Olympic Games in Tokyo just around the corner, in fact only 6 months away, Nisha could be on target for an Olympic berth. This would be an incredible achievement, especially since the chances of being an Olympic swimmer are 0.0013%. With Nisha’s Bronze medal in the 2019 SEA Games, her chances are now better than good.

I have gone back through my old notes and emails, and pictures just to celebrate her achievement. I have some wonderful memories of Nisha in curriculum classes and competitions when she swam for the school. Looking back it is no surprise how far she has gone and a lot of it is because of things you cannot time or measure.

In February 2018 she sent me through her targets for 1 year and 2 years for all strokes. Below is her targets for her Bronze medal swim event – Breaststroke 100M.

1 Year : BRS100- 1.13/ 1.12 (high)

2 Years: BRS100- 1.11 solid

Her Bronze medal swim on Monday … 1:10.70

Here are a few of my memories about Nisha’s time with Bangkok Prep:

• Nisha always wore the School swim uniform. It didn’t matter what the other swimmers were wearing – the new superfast suit etc. She respected her Gold cap and waited patiently to earn it. (Brunei 2016).
• Nisha always came to me before a meet and asked what events we (the School) wanted her to swim before a competition. What was best for the team.
• I remember ISB SwimFest 2017 where Nisha had the last leg in a relay. She entered the water 7 down – we came home 3rd. A long third and she didn’t do it for her personal medal collection of the day. She didn’t swim her preferred stroke either.
• One time I ‘gambled’ with the Medley Relay team and had her swim her least favourite stroke – Backstroke. We lost and it wasn’t because of Nisha – it was because of my ‘tinkering’. I was gutted. When I apologised to the 4 swimmers after the race, Nisha smiled and said “it’s OK Coach”.

Nisha gave me goose bumps when she swam. Not just because of how good she could swim – but because she always gave 100% and looked like she loved every moment. She loved doing well for her coaches and most importantly her beloved Bulldog team.

Congratulations to one of the most humble athletes I have ever been around. A true Bulldog forever. Hopefully we will see you in Tokyo July 2020.

Matt Ferrier

Primary Swim Teacher