KUALA LUMPUR − Since the International Swimming Federation (FINA) has yet to release any competition schedule for next year’s calendar, it seems like our national divers must endure another long wait before they are able to start competing once again.
The last time the national diving camp tasted competitive action was in the recent Tokyo Olympic Games.
However, only Pandelela Rinong, Cheong Jun Hoong, Nur Dhabitah, Leong Mun Yee and Wendy Ng Yan Yee qualified for the world’s biggest multi-sports event while the rest of the squad had to cheer their fellow comrades thousands of miles away from Malaysia.
In a bid to help divers get back into action, Malaysia Swimming (MS) is planning to organise a national diving circuit at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil early next year.
MS secretary-general, Mae Chen, said the event, which will likely be held in February or March, will also be a platform for divers to prepare for three major sporting events next year: the SEA Games in Hanoi, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
“We hope to get the green light from the Youth and Sports ministry to organise the national circuit in February or March, depending on the Covid-19 situation. I hope everything goes well though, because it is quite intimidating to gain approval from the ministry,” she told Bernama when contacted today.
If the authorities choose to loosen standard operating procedures (SOPs) for foreigners to enter the country, including quarantine processes, Mae hopes to invite participants from other countries, such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea to compete in the diving circuit.
As there’ll be no competitions until next year, Mae said all the divers are currently training as usual in Bukit Jalil.
In the meantime, Mae informed that they are still waiting for confirmation from the National Sports Council (NSC) to rope in a new assistant coach from China, beginning next year.
“We hope to get him (assistant coach) in January, the only thing pending at the moment is the approval from NSC, as they still need to wait for the allocation, which will be announced in the 2022 Budget at the end of this month,” she added.
She said the former coach for Brazil and Indonesia will help national diving coach, Li Rui, to concentrate on training the more experienced divers. – Bernama, October 13, 2021
