Sukma cancels women’s diving events as talents dry up

KUALA LUMPUR – Is Malaysian diving going into the doldrums following the cancellation of its event at the upcoming Malaysian Games (Sukma)?

The Sukma Games, scheduled to take place from September 29 to October 8 in Kuala Lumpur will not host the women’s diving events due to their policy of minimum participation.

It is understood that any event to be contested at Sukma needs to have the participation of at least eight state contingents.

It was reported that only five states – Perak, Federal Territories, Pahang, Sarawak, and Sabah – sent entries for the 1m springboard and 3m springboard events, while for the 10m platform only Perak, Federal Territories, Sarawak, and Sabah had sent entries.

Speaking to The Vibes, Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary-general Mae Chan said this issue is partly caused by the dry pipeline of talents in the diving pool, adding that not all states have diving programs.

“It’s the women’s events that are cancelled.”

She said that only the Federal Territories and Sarawak have good diving programmes, while the rest either have poorly conducted programmes or no programmes at all.

“Basically, Kelantan, Perlis, Johor, and Negri Sembilan do not have diving programmes or divers. Some states like Penang, Sabah, and Pahang have few female divers.”

Chan said the situation became severe for diving after the states decided to remove all their foreign coaches due to funding issues.

“They could not afford to employ the coaches. Only the Negri Sembilan coach from China stayed and managed to get a job with the Sarawak diving team, while the rest were all sent back to their respective countries.”

However, Chan said that the National Sports Council (NSC), the Youth and Sports Ministry, and MS are taking this issue seriously and have solutions for this.

“We will start the Junior Tiger Diving Development programme after the Commonwealth Games. This will be for the juniors who will join the training camp in Bukit Jalil. We will scout for potential talents and rope them into the national backup squad,” she said.

Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu told The Vibes that there is a plan to organise a national-level competition for the divers who will miss the Sukma Games.

Faizal said the cancellation could not be avoided due to the lack of participation by the states.

“It is not fair for the divers who have been training so hard over the months or years for Sukma and only to have their events cancelled. I have discussed this with the NSC and MS and will make an announcement soon,” Faizal said.

Faizal also advised the states to focus more on junior diving programmes because Malaysia will need the next generation of divers to take over from the current crop of elite divers.

“The country needs a bigger pool of divers because diving is an Olympic sport and we have won medals on the stage already. We cannot afford to slip up when we are performing well now,” he said.

Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said that the NSC and MS should act fast and look into this matter with urgency as diving is a global sport.

“After the Hanoi SEA Games, I expressed my concerns about this issue because we are still depending on our elite divers to deliver the medals in the SEA Games. Where is the second batch of divers?

“We should look at the SEA Games as a platform for the backup athletes to prove themselves and move to the next level. This is what will help Malaysian sports to progress and not regress,” said Norza when contacted. – The Vibes, July 28, 2022

Additional reporting by Julie Jalaluddin