KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian diving squad hit rock bottom at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar recently after failing to secure not only a medal but also qualification for the Paris Olympics.
But as the saying goes, when you hit rock bottom the only way is up, and for Malaysia Swimming diving technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas, the failure in Qatar is a “blessing in disguise”.
The three-time Olympian was hired alongside fellow former national diver Khairul Safwan Mansur as high-performance director in September to arrest the decline of the sport and the widening gap between the seniors and backup divers.
“Myself and Khairul were hired to elevate the standard of diving in the country and what we have done is come up with a blueprint as a result of discussions with the association and the National Sports Council (NSC).
“Since we are in this situation, right now is the best time to move forward with the blueprint that we have prepared.
“Previously we may have hesitated and put on hold certain things because we still had some doubts, but this is the time to make bigger steps to move forward.
“Of course, we need help from the NSC from the aspect of funding,” he told Scoop when contacted.
The 33-year-old is hopeful that with the plans put in place, there will be light at the end of the tunnel for the sport of diving in Malaysia.
“For me, our poor performance in Doha is a blessing in disguise as many nations have improved, like our neighbour Singapore.
“This is the right time to change our approach or look for new ones to close the gap between our divers and the world’s best.
“It is clear to see that the gap between our seniors and backup divers is massive, and when I got hired I stressed that this widening gap needs to be closed and the process to address that has started from last year.
“The NSC has given us support by granting our request to get new coaches and their task will be to groom the backup squad so that they are not behind the seniors by too much,” said the youngest Olympian for Malaysia when he made his debut at the 2004 Athens Games as a 14-year-old.
Bryan added that there was a mountain of work that needed to be done to address the quality of the backup divers and the degree of difficulty of their dives, but it was a process that they needed to go through.
In Doha, senior divers Datuk Pandelela Rinong, Ng Yan Yee, and Nur Dhabitah Sabri all failed to secure a spot for the Paris Olympics.
The likes of Jellson Jabillin, Enrique Maccartney Harold, Kimberly Bong and Ong Ker Ying did not impress much either.
Bertrand Rhodict Lises will be Malaysia’s sole diver in Paris after qualifying for the men’s 10m individual platform after booking his ticket at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan last year. – February 14, 2024
