BUSINESS — Sonia Fitness Plus: Aqua gym, Sonia Leong Son’s well-being therapy

With 38 years of experience, Sonia Leong Son is a recognized figure in fitness in Mauritius. She opened her center, Sonia Fitness Plus, in Roches-Brunes, and specialized in aquatic activities and innovative Dance Fit Craft programs for children. She is also a beauty queen of the 80s and 90s, having been the runner-up to Miss Mauritius and won the title of Miss Mauritius Wonderland in 1989, at only 19 years old. With a healthy mind in a healthy body, she knows how to take life as it comes.

Specializing in sports support, fitness for children and aquatic activities including aquababy for the motor development of young children, Sonia Leong Son says she started with group classes in the gym, then with exercises using weight training equipment and cardio machines. The idea of ​​starting a business was born right at home after finishing high school. which she considers to be a “Godcidence”. The opportunity to take aerobics training was offered to him by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, then headed by Michael Glover, and instructed by a missionary from Texas, Mrs. Suzan Edwards. “I am deeply grateful to them, because not having the financial means at the time, this training was the real starting point of my professional career. »

By naming her business, Sonia’s Fitness Plus, she wanted, she emphasizes, to highlight this notion of “more”: a welcoming space for children, a family atmosphere, as well as a constant evolution of the activities and disciplines offered. Thirty years ago, she introduced aquatic exercises into her classes. Her youngest students are barely three months old. They participate in sessions accompanied by a parent. “Living on a tropical island, I am deeply convinced that knowing how to swim is an essential skill, even a true âlife skillâ. A professional in the field once revealed to me that a study carried out in Mauritius showed that the number of drownings was equivalent to that of road deaths. This reality had a profound impact on me. Accidents do not only occur at sea, but also in rivers and, increasingly, in swimming pools. It is also alarming to note that some swimming pool owners do not know how to swim themselves. Since then, I have been keen, at my level, to pass on this learning to as many people as possible. »

Overcoming children's fear of water

Beautiful and sunny, Sonia also knows how to convey that part of generosity that drives her as a fitness coach. She is always attentive to the needs of her students, whether they are children or adults. These classes for little ones are aimed at those aged from three months to five years. The sessions start with durations of 15 to 30 minutes, then evolve