ANGELA GALEA started her career as a young seven-year-old swimmer at Neptunes Waterpolo and Swimming Club. She is now the No. 1 swimmer on these islands. Moreover, after her gold medal win at the Andorra Games for European Small States last June, she is also considered as the Queen of Maltese sport – a feat which also earned her a gold medal from the Malta Olympic Committee in their Sports Awards for 2005. Angela, who holds no fewer than seven national swimming records, is in her final year studying medicine and surgery, but is hoping that she will be able to defend her gold medal and also establish a Games record in the 200m butterfly when the Games for the European Small States are held in Monaco next year. Here she tells her story to Henry Brincat
Angela Galea is still 23 years old, but she has been swimming competitively since she was a seven-year-old. She started her career at Neptunes Waterpolo and Swimming Club where she was always pushed forward to achieve more success.
She said: “We have always lived close to the Neptunes club. So it was not a surprise that I started my swimming career there. I started ‘serious’ swimming when six or seven years old and since then, I always looked forward. I was helped a lot by the club, as it always had a nice culture for sports. There was a relatively big group of swimmers who would push you forward to reach your goals.”
After being selected to join the national team, Angela also found a lot of help from the ASA, particularly the Swimming Board, chaired by Dr Michael Gialanze. “I always found his total support, as well as that of the coaches, especially Attila Selmeci, who is now the coach of a Hungarian swimmer, who has become the European champion in his category. But I must also thank my parents for their continued support. I must, however, say that we are a sporting family. My brothers Adrian and Anthony play football, Anthony’s girlfriend Tanya is a swimmer, my mum played tennis while my father has been a football and hockey player in the past,” she said.
Galea is the holder of seven national records at present. She said: “I have broken seven, but, in all, I think I have established about 26 records, of course, sometimes breaking my own records. These were established in the 50 butterfly in Montreal last year, 100 butterfly in Malta 2003, 200 butterfly in Luxembourg 2003, 400 IM in Malta 2003, the 1,500 freestyle (Malta 2004) and the relays – 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 200 freestyle (both Malta 2003).”
Angela owes a lot of her improvement to her forming part of the Elite Scheme of the Malta Olympic Committee.
“This Scheme has helped a lot towards my improvement every year culminating in the gold medal at Andorra. The MOC and their Scheme is a source of motivation and encouragement for all the athletes in it. You feel part of a family being pushed to reach certain levels never dreamt of before. I thank the MOC for having believed in me right from the start. I benefited a lot from their Scheme, even if I had to train 10 times a week, which makes my sport rather difficult and much different from others. It is enough to say that I train between 5.45am and 7.30am and from 4pm to 6pm daily between Monday and Friday and then again on Saturdays between 7am and 10am,” she explained.
I asked Angela to explain her experience at the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000. “It was unbelievable. I was in the pool for my 100 butterfly heat, just after local hero Ian Thorpe established a world record in his 400m freestyle heat. You cannot imagine the atmosphere inside the pool. The crowd went ecstatic. It made it a special occasion for me. Overall, it was a great experience. The Sydney Olympic Games remain memorable for several factors, foremost among which are the meetings with the world’s top athletes.
“It’s a place where you feel you are on the same level. You feel like forming part of a big family, even having lunch and dinner together. And it was really fantastic to swim in those circumstances I have already mentioned. After the race, you learn from those better than you. They give support to each other. It was an experience which helped me a lot towards achieving my gold medal in Andorra,” she said.
That gold medal win remains one of the most memorable moments in her career. “Yet, I consider my silver medal win in Malta, in front of the home crowd, as my most memorable moment so far. For me it was nicer, having also set a new national record. In Andorra, it was nice to win gold and it also made me very happy,” she said.
Angela, however, had her most disappointing moment also in Andorra. “In fact, before the Games, I was clocking very good times for the 200m butterfly and I was hoping to be able to register a new Games record. Imagine my disappointment when I failed to do that even though I won gold. I think the altitude there affected my performance considerably. At the end I felt I had something inside me I did not manage to bring out,” she said. Angela is now looking forward to next year’s Games in Monaco to try and get that Games record. It is a second chance to have a go for that record missed in Andorra. But she has issued a sort of warning that she might not be able to take part.
“Next year, I will be in my final year of studies in medicine and surgery, following which I hope to graduate as a doctor. And that will make training a lot harder than it has been so far for me. There has to be a special agreement between the MOC and the Health Minister. If I am forced to cut my training sessions to just five a week because of work, I would have to reconsider my participation,” she said.
Angela’s concentration at present is on the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. She said: “I’m very happy to have been selected to represent Malta for a second time after the Manchester experience of four years ago. After March, I will have no coach, but I am supposed to be taking part in the European Championships in Hungary.”
Angela Galea – a profile
Date of birth: 5 May 1983
Education: Primary and Secondary at Sacred Heart College, St Julian’s, Junior College, Sixth Form, Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta.
Sports career: Started “serious” swimming at Neptunes Waterpolo and Swimming Club when only seven years old. At 11 years she was swimming throughout the year on club level. At the age of 14, she joined the national team and was selected for the Iceland Small Nations Games after having obtained the Minimum Qualifying Standards set by the MOC. At Neptunes, where she was registered as a club swimmer, she has been coached by Sue Brooks Bank, Andy Colbourn, Ella Yaranova, Attila Selmeci (national team) and Istvan Karmos (national team 2004-2005). She has been Malta’s top swimmer since 2000, breaking 26 national records so far.
Achievements: Her success story started at FISEC Games level. Throughout the years (between 1997 and 2000) she won five gold, six silver and six bronze medals in those Games. In 2001, she won bronze at the San Marino Small Nations Games in the 200 butterfly. In the Malta Games in 2003, she won two silver medals (100 and 200 butterfly) and one bronze medal in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay. She finally won gold in the Games in Andorra last June in the 200m butterfly and also a bronze in the 100 butterfly and in the 4 x 200 relay. So far Angela represented Malta in the major competitions such as the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the 2003 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona and the Small Nations Games in Iceland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Malta and Andorra. In 2005, she also took part in the Mediterranean Games in Almeria, Spain, and the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
Awards: Although still a very young sportswoman, Angela has had a very successful career. In 2003 she was awarded a silver medal for her achievements by the Malta Olympic Committee. In 2004 and 2005, she was voted as the Sportswoman of the Year, while last year, she was also rewarded with the gold medal by the Malta Olympic Committee. She has been on the MOC’s Elite Athlete Scheme since 2002, after having been an Aspirant Athlete in her first year.
Family. Angela is the daughter of Dr Edwin Galea and Maria. Anthony, Anna, Adrian and Andrea are her brothers and sisters.