AQUATICS: Divers Are Going Places

But swimmers remain stagnant and leave a lot to be desired

(Clockwise from left) Bryan Nickson Lomas, Katrina Ann Abdul Hadi, Yeoh Ken Nee, Khoo Cai Lin, Leong Mun Yee and Pandelela Rinong.

   THE national diving squad enjoyed a truly remarkable year as not only did they consolidate their status as the No 2 team in Asia, but also made huge inroads onto the world stage.

If the divers, led by Yeoh Ken Nee and Pandelela Rinong, continue with their form, they could deliver medals at next year's Olympic Games in London.

Malaysia were only mediocre in diving in the mid-1990s but their fortunes changed dramatically at the 1999 Sea Games in Brunei when Ken Nee won the country's first ever gold medal.

Since then, our divers have gone on to make their mark and it's all thanks to China coach Yang Zhuliang, who single-handedly revolutionised diving in Malaysia.

Progress with the swimmers, however, has stagnated as none of those in the national programme are even close to Asian class. Chui Lai Kwan was Malaysia's rising hope in the pool but the Sandakan lass quit the national team in September.

The 21-year-old freestyler, who was the only local to qualify for a final at last year's Guangzhou Asian Games, had qualified for the Olympics under category 'B' before quitting.

In synchronised swimming, the team, led by Katrina Ann Abdul Hadi, were in perfect harmony to sweep all five gold medals on offer at the recent Indonesia Sea Games but the youngsters are still far from becoming the best in Asia.

Malaysia made huge progress in open water swimming, an Olympic event, through Heidi Gan's two gold achievements in Jakarta. The Australian-based swimmer is determined to swim at the London Games.

Malaysian divers, however, made the nation proud through several outstanding performances in world class meets.

Pandelela started the year with silver medals in the 10-metre platform individual and synchro disciplines (with Leong Mun Yee) at the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing.

She and Mun Yee went on to carve out a historic achievement for Malaysia at the German Open in May by winning gold at the same event.

The pair were then among the favourites to earn an Olympic spot at the World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai in July but they did not make the podium due to one bad dive and finished fifth.

Pandelela, however, together with Bryan Nickson Lomas, earned Olympic spots in the men's 3m springboard and women's 10m platform individual disciplines at the world meet.

Lomas and Ken Nee later fulfilled their promise to secure qualification in the 10m platform and 3m springboard at the Diving Asia Games in September.

Pandelela and Mun Yee are Malaysia's best bet for an Olympic medal but they must first qualify at the London World Cup in February. Only the top four pairs are through to the Olympic Games.

Malaysia have never qualified for the Olympics in the synchronised disciplines and Zhuliang is also targeting the men's pairing of Bryan-Ken Nee to make it in the 3m springboard synchronised event.

Pandelela and Lomas are not far behind their rivals in the 10m platform individual event but both need to improve to fight for medals in London, though they have made significant progress of late.

The divers turned in a near perfect performances in their final competition of the year at the Indonesia Sea Games where, between them, effortlessly ploughed their way to seven titles in eight events.

Ken Nee bade farewell to the Sea Games in grand style by winning his 14th and 15th titles while Lomas breached the 500-point mark for the first time to win his fourth straight gold in the 10m platform.

Cheong Jun Hoong also made her name by capturing the gold medal that has eluded Malaysia for the last eight years in the women's 3m springboard final.

Zhuliang's systematic training has also churned out a respectable pool of junior divers who went on to make an impact on the Asia-Pacific Championships and also the Asean Age-Group event.

Diving has made significant progress and if everything goes to plan, Malaysia could earn an Olympic medal, apart from badminton, in London next year. The divers, however, are still far behind China but not from the rest.

As for swimming, the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia needs (Asum) needs to re-look its programme as none of the current batch is good enough to make an impact on Asian-level events.

Breaststrokers Siow Yi Ting, Christina Loh and freestyler Khoo Cai Lin are almost unbeatable in their pet events in Southeast Asia but they are looked on as minnows in bigger championships.

National coach Paul Birmingham has done well but he needs to implement a systematic and state-of-the-art approach in training. They also need to be sent for training stints and competitions on a regular basis.

As for water polo, Malaysia need a proper grassroots programme to promote the sport among the youth. At the recent Sea Games, the men's and women's teams were hammered but the latter returned with a bronze as there were only three teams competing.

The national synchronised swimmers are making good progress but need exposure and regular competitions to improve further.

The swimmers are unlikely to qualify for the Olympics but keep your fingers crossed that they will be a force in Asia leading to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition.

Read more: AQUATICS: Divers are going places - Other - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/other/aquatics-divers-are-going-places-1.18707#ixzz1gNCDOJQr