KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — The Malaysian Swimming Federation (MS) is planning to increase the number of coaches for the national elite and back up diving squads to ensure the sport continues to produce high-quality divers.
Diving technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas said the sport is currently facing a shortage of coaches, and the identification of these coaches has already begun, involving both local and foreign expertise.
“So far, we have three coaches for the elite squad, namely Datuk Leong Mun Yee, Li Rui, and Li Jun Bai, while for the backup squad, we only have one. Therefore, new coaching services are needed to assist the existing coaches in developing athlete performance. This matter has been discussed with the National Sports Council (MSN).
“So, we want to add one foreign coach for the elite squad, while for the backup squad, we need to add two more, with priority given to local talent,” he said after a Sports Working Committee (JKK) meeting at MSN, here today.
Bryan said they have received several applications from candidates and are in the process of evaluating them before finalising the new coaches, with the announcement scheduled for February next year.
At the same time, Bryan, a national Olympian, hopes that MSN will consider MS’ proposal to have specialised coaches for platform and springboard events.
“That’s one of our proposals, presented by me and the High-Performance Director of Diving, Khairul Safwan Mansur. At the same time, we are also planning to develop grassroots programmes, trying to convince the relevant authorities to restart diving sports programmes at the state level,” he said. — Bernama
