National diving coach: With no training pool, forget about international meets

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Malaysia’s national divers will have to forego participating in two upcoming international meets if they continue without suitable pool facilities for their training, national diving coach Yang Zhuliang has warned yesterday.

Yang said the divers will only be restricted to indoor training at Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex’s gymnasium today, even as they plan to prepare for the 2016 World Grand Prix’s sixth leg and the Asian Championships to be hosted in Kuching and Tokyo on October 21 to 23 and November 14 to 20 respectively.

“When I train divers, I want facilities to be in tip-top condition. I have been saying from day one that we need more world class facilities for diving in Malaysia but until today we do not have any,” he was quoted saying by local daily New Straits Times’ sports pullout Timesport.

Yang highlighted the importance of proper training facilities to allow the national divers to join the two final meets of the season, linking it to Malaysia’s hopes for the elusive Olympics gold medal.

“You cannot compete without proper training. It is too risky and will cause injuries. The Asian Championships in Tokyo is a very important event as the venue will be used for the 2020 Olympics.

“If we want to win a gold medal in Tokyo, then we must invest in proper facilities,” he said.

The paper said the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil is undergoing renovations, while the Cheras training centre is purportedly unsafe.

Kuching’s State Aquatic Centre’s dry gym facilities can only cater to four persons at any one time. The Kuching venue will also be the World Grand Prix host, the paper said.

“The venue in Bukit Jalil is the best in the country but unfortunately, it is closed until next year’s Sea Games, while in Cheras, the two springboards and the platform are too old for usage.

“In Kuching, the dry gym is too small while there is a problem with water hardness. The water needs to be treated regularly,” Yang said.

Yang, who is a China national, said a proposal to train the national divers in China for both contests will be raised in a meeting between the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia and the Podium Programme.

In Rio 2016, divers Cheong Jun Hoong and Pandelela Rinong won Malaysia’s first medal at the Olympics by winning the silver in the women’s 10m platform synchronised diving.