About Coach Haneeza
IT STARTED ON A STAIRCASE
I was 37 when my body sent me a message I could no longer ignore. Climbing a flight of stairs left me breathless. I knew my family history — diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol — and I knew the weight I had gained was quietly pulling me toward all of it.
My knees had taken a beating during my competitive hockey years. Every attempt at jogging, hiking or badminton ended in inflammation and pain. My TCM doctor was direct — stop aggravating them and start swimming.
THE WATER CHANGED EVERYTHING
What I found in the pool surprised me. It wasn't just exercise. It became a sanctuary.
Over the course of a year, I lost 10kg. My knees stopped hurting. My cardiovascular health improved. But the change that stayed with me most was how it helpedme manage my stress. I always finished my swim with a way to solve whatever challenge I carried in with me.
The water didn't just heal my body. It untangled everything else.
During those lessons, a classmate began asking me to help her with her stroke. I realised I enjoyed it — the teaching, the observing, the small adjustments that made a big difference. I began to notice something else: so many women around me were in the same position I had been in. Women who had given birth and quietly lost the ability to keep active. Women with joint pain who couldn't do land exercises. Women looking for a female coach they could trust.
I decided to become that coach.
As an NROC registered coach — the national standard required to teach at any public pool in Singapore — I have spent the past 13 years helping more than 1,000 women find their confidence in the water.
THE MOMENT HANEEZA WAS BORN
From my very first coaching session, I noticed a problem I couldn't unsee.
The modest swimwear available simply did not work in the water — the drag, the fabric pulling, the coverage that no longer covered the moment you float. My students struggled with the same issues. Tops riding up mid-stroke, wisps of hair peeking through the hijab, necks exposed as they moved.
One day, in pure frustration, I said out loud: "Maybe I have to design the modest swimwear myself." My students got excited. And they didn't let me forget it.
I didn't set out to build a business. I set out to solve a problem for the women in front of me.
With no fashion or business background, I went back to school. I studied apparel construction, fabric technology, and manufacturing — because if I was going to make something, I was going to make it properly.
Haneeza launched its first designs on 21 May 2016. This year, we turn 10 — and every single year has been built on the trust of the women who chose us, wore us, and came back.
GROWING WITH OUR CUSTOMERS
A few years into the brand, my daughter started working out seriously. She faced the same problem in activewear that my students faced in the pool — everything too snug, too short, too restrictive. Coverage was an afterthought.
The activewear line grew from that same place — not from a trend report, but from watching someone I love struggle to find something that let her move freely.
NEARLY TWO DECADES LATER
I am turning 55 this year. The women who come to me now remind me of who I was at 37 — wanting to move, wanting to feel well, wanting to do it on their own terms without compromising their faith or their comfort.
Every one of them reminds me why this exists.
I built Haneeza because my students needed it. I kept building it because so many more women did too.
Whether you find us through the website, through a studio visit, or through a swim class — welcome. I hope something here feels like it was made for you. Because it was.
— Haneeza Founder, Coach & the woman behind every stitch
Ready to find something made for you?