Sports

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Olympics: Aussies, and not Malaysians, get tro train at National Aquatic Centre

KUALA LUMPUR: The priority should be for the Malaysian swimmers embarking on the biggest assignment of their lives. But this appears not to be the case, as they are now forced to reschedule their training sessions ahead of the next month's Beijing Olympics.

The reason is because the Australian national swimming squad have decided to set up camp here at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil from July 27-Aug 3.

Disappointed: Malaysia's swimming coach Paul Thoomas Birmingham is unhappy his charges have to give up their training venue to Australians.

It will be part of the acclimatisation process for the 46-member strong Australian swimming squad, who have world record holders and Olympic medallists in their ranks, before they head straight to Beijing for the competition starting on Aug 9.

The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) only learnt about the matter recently and were hopeful of getting Australian swimming head coach Alan Thompson to consider allocating two lanes for the Malaysians to continue with their regular training sessions.

But Thompson turned down the request in an e-mail reply two days ago. And rather than shifting their training elsewhere, Malaysia's swimming coach Paul Thomas Birmingham said yesterday they would prefer to continue training at their usual base.

Birmingham’s choice is understandable as the National Sports Institute (NSI) is just next door and the swimmers can depend on getting immediate medical assistance and support from the sports science unit in case anything crops up.

“If we are unable to train at our normal time, we will have to shift it earlier. I would be looking at us starting from 6am to 8am before the Australian team begin their morning session. It should be from 2.30-4.30pm for the afternoon session.

“I was given options to look at other venues but I would prefer our swimmers to stay put because it’s not good to change the environment. It’s not the ideal preparation but it’s not the end of the world. We can somehow manage,” said Birmingham.

The National Sports Complex, who acted on the advice from NSI, committed themselves to the contract with the Australian swimming team back in 2005 but Asum secretary Edwin Chong said they were not aware of the matter.

“We only found out about it recently and we tried to get an alternative venue for our swimmers. We were looking at the Paroi Aquatic Centre in Seremban but Paul (Birmingham) was not keen because of the travel distance.

“The pool in Cheras was also another option. But it’s also a public pool and our swimmers would not get to train at their usual time,” said Edwin.

Malaysia have five swimmers who have qualified for the Beijing Olympics so far. Three –Daniel Bego, Khoo Cai Lin and Lew Yih Wey – currently trains at Bukit Jalil. However, United States-based Siow Yi Ting will be joining the trio later this week while Sabahan Leung Chii is expected to be here sometime in the middle of this month.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

Sports Poll