KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Swimming Federation (MS) needs to swap their swim caps for “thinking hats” and find ways to step up their game if the national contingent is to improve their performance at the upcoming 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said MS as well as the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) need to do better in preparing athletes that can win medals at the Cambodia SEA Games next year from May 5 to 17.
During recent performance at the 2022 SEA Games in Vietnam, Malaysia only won one gold medal in swimming and five gold in athletics, which all came in the field events.
“The sports that dragged us down to sixth place in the medal tally for Vietnam was swimming and athletics. The same will happen next year in Cambodia if we do not improve our situation,” said Norza.
Caretaker Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim is currently MS and MAF president.
Malaysia was sixth in the medal tally at Vietnam with 39 gold, 45 silver, and 90 bronze medals, behind Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Norza said with several sports and events being dropped for Cambodia next year, Malaysia might lose an estimated 12 gold, 9 silver, and 24 bronze medals compared to the Vietnam SEA Games.
“I think MS and MAF need to take the necessary measures to ensure that we have an improved performance in the future, otherwise they will need to justify to us what the plan is in terms of moving forward,” he said today after the OCM Selection Meeting at Wisma OCM.
The 32nd edition of the SEA Games in Cambodia 17 will see 37 sports being competed with 608 events, compared to 40 sports and 526 events in Vietnam.
Norza said that although there is hope for athletics to improve Malaysia’s medal tally next year in Cambodia, the same cannot be said for MS.
“Realistically there is a chance for athletics to improve the medal tally.
“But there is no light at the end of the tunnel as far as swimming is concerned.”
“MS has to put up a proper blueprint and take action, so we are able to prepare ourselves and hope to get desirable results at the SEA Games, especially when we host the 34th edition in 2027,” he added.
Meanwhile, National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi said even though the participation for swimming during the recent Malaysia Games (Sukma) was encouraging, the level of athletes’ performance was not as expected.
“For MS, we hope that they will consider a different approach to their methods.
“They can’t just be relying on the state swimming associations solely as we have heard that some states do not cooperate.
“Maybe MS can look at clubs and create a competitive environment among the clubs to find new talent, that might be a better approach,” said Shapawi. – The Vibes, October 11, 2022
