KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Swimming Federation hopes to see at least five more athletes dive their way to the Paris Olympics through the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, from February 2-18.
The swimming body’s technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas said among the potential divers that could make it to Paris included two-time Olympic medallist Datuk Pandelela Rinong as well as two-time Olympian Nur Dhabitah Sabri.
The former athlete said others included Wendy Ng Yan Yee, Ooi Tze Liang, Muhammad Syafiq Puteh, Enrique Maccartney Harold and Jellson Jabillin.
“So far we only have one diver to the 2024 Olympics but of course we want to see more divers competing in Paris as the Doha meet will be their last chance to do so.
“I know the standard of our divers, it is not impossible (for more divers to qualify) as some of them are already in the top 18 or top 10 in the world,” he said when contacted.
Bertrand Rhodict Lises has emerged as the sole diver to qualify on merit for the Paris Olympics so far.
The Sarawakian will debut at the Olympics after he advanced to the men’s 10m platform final and placed among the top 12 divers at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
In Doha, the top 12 divers in the individual events and the top four pairs in the synchronised events will obtain a spot for Paris 2024.
While many had already qualified through last year’s World Championships, the available slots will then go to the best-ranked divers and pairs in Doha.
Apart from helping the divers to make the cut to Paris 2024, Bryan had also issued a strong challenge for all of them to improve scoring points in Doha.
The 2024 Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11.
On the two-month training camp in China, which began last month, Bryan, who had just joined the team last Thursday, was pleased to see all divers staying focused in the stint.
“The training camp will end on January 25. We will then go back to Malaysia and travel again to Doha on January 27,” he added. – January 6, 2024