'Fly ace Galea chasing lifetime ambition in Andorra

Malta's top swimmer Angela Galea has spent the build-up phase to this year's Games of the Small States in Andorra covering hundreds of metres at the National Pool as she looks to fulfil a lifetime ambition... winning a GSSE gold medal.

Two years ago in Malta, the amiable Galea was a whisker away from achieving her dream when she was beaten by seven hundredths of a second by race favourite Maria Papado-poulou, of Cyprus, in the 200 metres butterfly final.

That same week, she again had to settle for second place in the 100m 'fly when she was out-sprinted once more by Papadopoulou who won a second gold medal.

Galea completed a treble of GSSE 2003 medals when she teamed up with Roberta Callus, Lara Callus and Davina Mangion to win bronze in the 4x200 metres freestyle.

Next week, Galea will again be Malta's best bet for a medal in the pool when she lines up to represent our country for a fourth time in these Games.

Unfortunately, the national squad's preparations this time were hampered with the closure of the National Pool for maintenance. The works took several weeks to complete and Galea and her team-mates had to look to another venue to continue their training.

The team has been following a hectic schedule to try and recover lost time. Although a gold medal seems to be a very tough call, Galea, who swims for Neptunes, is still hopeful of making the winners' rostrum in Andorra.

"With the National Pool closed in the build-up phase, our chances immediately took a nosedive. It became very difficult to keep up with the training schedule set by national coach Steve Kormos," Galea said.

"But, for the past three weeks, we have increased our training load. I'm feeling that slowly we are recovering best form and timings are constantly improving.

"In Andorra, I am focusing mostly on winning a medal in my favourite discipline, the 200 metres butterfly. It's not easy because the other swimmers will also try hard to finish among the winners and, I'm sure, the level has improved steadily during the past two years.

"Iceland are still the strongest nation in the pool but I'm expecting a good showing from Luxembourg. Andorra will be swimming in front of their own fans so that makes them strong contenders as well."

Swimming had other problems to contend with during the past few years.

After the Malta GSSE, national coach Attila Selmeci quit his job to return to his homeland Hungary. The ASA struggled to find a suitable replacement with Gail Rizzo taking interim responsibility of the national squad's training.

It was only late last year that the ASA Swimming Board appointed Kormos, another Hungarian, as national coach.

Galea says it's still early days to reap the fruit of Kormos's work but she has no doubt that in the long term Maltese swimmers will surely benefit from his experience.

"Kormos has a completely different approach from his predecessor," she said.

"While Selmeci was very eager on long hours of training, Kormos looks more on the quality of training drills he prepares.

"He has gained a lot of experience in Italy and despite taking the job a few months ago he has already managed to build a strong rapport with all the swimmers and clubs.

"I think it will not be long before we shall see the first fruit of his work."

According to Galea not all is gloom for Maltese swimming.

"I think the future could be very bright," she contends.

"At the moment there are a crop of 14 and 15-year-olds who are showing great promise. But our coaches have to take care of them and monitor their progress very closely.

"I also believe that there must be a change in the way things are being run at the moment. Swimmers must be given longer preparation programmes so that they can stand a better chance to fulfil their potential. But, the authorities have to invest more heavily to lure young swimmers to the sport.

"It's clear to many that there's a great need of an indoor pool, a place where swimmers can continue their schedule during wintry months.

"The academic system also doesn't help a lot really and some changes should be made. It's not the first time that one is forced to miss an important event to shift focus on exams."

After Andorra, Galea will probably figure in the World Championships in Canada. Then she will turn her sights on next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

"The Commonwealth Games are another important date in my career," Galea said. "Two years ago, I missed a place in the final when I placed 11th overall in the 200 metres butterfly.

"I have always dreamt of contesting a final in a prestigious international meet... perhaps, the Commonwealth Games represent my best chance of achieving that goal."

But the Melbourne appointment is still months away. For now, Galea is chasing another objective... a GSSE gold medal.

Galea knows she will face strong opposition in Andorra but her resilience in sport and social life has often led her to outstanding results.

Will she defy the odds again next week at the Serradells Pavilion pool?

Olympic Pool At Serradells Pavilion

Location: Centre of la Comella - Andorra la Vella.

Height: 1,040m above sea level.

Capacity: 610 seats.

International events: 1991 Andorra GSSE; 1992 Junior Multi-Nation Meet; Championship cups for Spanish Masters; 2003 Euro Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships.

GSSE swimming facts...

¤ Swimming is a compulsory discipline in a GSSE calendar of sport. There were no Maltese swimmers in the opening two editions. But in 1989 there were five swimmers representing Malta in the Cyprus GSSE.

These were E. Calleja, M. Manara, J. Valletta, K. Izzo, R. Parnis England.

¤ No Maltese swimmer managed to finish on the podium in Cyprus '89. The first medal in this sport came two years later in Andorra '91.

Katya Pace won a bronze medal in the 100m breast stroke race.

¤ The best performance for Maltese swimmers in GSSE was at the National Pool in 1993.

Coach Albert Burgund inspired the squad to eight medals - two silver and six bronze. All eight medals were scooped by the female members in the squad. These were Katya Pace, Roberta Stellini, Susan Smith and Gail Rizzo. Pace was second this time in the 100m breast stroke and then she helped the 4x100m medley relay team to a silver medal.

¤ Swimming sport hit an incredible slump after the Malta '93 GSSE, particularly in the men's category.

In fact, in the next five editions of the Games, Maltese swimmers only won seven medals, three of which were silver but none of them gold.

¤ Among the Maltese coaches in charge of a swimming team in the GSSE one finds veteran Alfred Cachia. He was responsible for the squad making a debut in the GSSE in 1989.

There were other appointments since then but most of them were foreigners. These included Albert Burgund (Canada), Mihail Gothe (Romania), Attila Selmeci (Hungary) and now Steven Kormos (Hungary).