KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Former national diving ace Datuk Leong Mun Yee hopes to produce Olympic champions in the future through the establishment of her academy, ‘DLMY x DSA’ (DSwim Academy) today.

Mun Yee, who was excited to be able to realise her dream of establishing the academy, said it would not be an impossible task to produce champions at the biggest sports event because divers must be trained from a young age.

"The establishment of this academy can be used indirectly as a talent search platform for (divers from) age five to 12, I also welcome anyone aged 12 and above to join but it is better if they have a background in gymnastics, trampoline or ballet.

"It is my hope that more young divers will be ‘born’ in order to ensure the sport of diving is more advanced in the future and win the first gold medal from diving for the country in the Olympic Games,” she declared at a press conference here.

The launch of the ‘DLMY x DSA’ was officiated by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil here.

The highest achievement of the national diving squad at the Olympic Games is winning the silver medal at the 2016 Rio edition in Brazil through the national pair of diving queens Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong in the women’s 10m synchronised platform.

Mun Yee, the five-time Olympian also thanked the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Sports Council, Malaysia Stadium Corporation and DSA for the support given for her efforts to unearth the country’s diving talent through the academy.

On how she will divide her devotion at the academy and her role as assistant coach of the national squad, Mun Yee said she will ensure that all the programmes arranged at the academy run smoothly as the task of training participants is handled by former national coach Agnus Wong and national back-up squad coach Richard Carlyse.

Meanwhile, Hannah hoped more parents can take up the initiative to send their children to the DLMY x DSA (academy) because Malaysia has the potential to produce diving stars in the future.

"With this diving programme, it will complete the training at DSA because it also has a swimming programme, and as for children who know how to swim, they too can join (DLMY x DSA),” she said.

There are two classes offered to participants at the DLMY x DSA — the basic class for beginners and intermediate-and-above — with RM120 for registration while the monthly fee is RM630. — Bernama