Malaysian games / Swimming: Hosts looking to Carmen

Terengganu’s swimming squad pose at the State Aquatics Centre in Pantai Batu Buruk yesterday.

JUST a few medals of any colour from the pool in the Malaysia Games they host will do Terengganu swimming a world of good.

Like a few other sports, organised swimming in the State had to start almost from scratch and this began just over a year ago with the formation of the Terengganu Amateur Swimming Association (TAFA), in view mainly of hosting the Malaysia Games.

Prior to this, Terengganu did not even have a body in charge of the sport in the State, but with the completion of the compact yet impressive facilities at the newly-refurbished State Aquatics Centre in Pantai Batu Buruk, Kuala Terengganu, it looks like the state is taking the sport very seriously.

“We have mostly young swimmers, the oldest in our development programme is Tengku Mohd Firdaus Adli Naqib, who is 16, while the youngest, Amy Tan, is just 11,” said former national swimmer Wong Tuck Kar, who took charge as coach of the Terengganu team just four months ago.

“We are looking at the future with a very young batch of swimmers, but we also hope for some medals and the swimmer with the responsibility to do that is Carmen Ooi.”
Carmen, 18, is based in New Zealand and will return to represent the state for the first time. She is slotted for nine events, but is likely to deliver in the 100m and 200m backstroke, which are her specialties.

“Frankly, we don’t know what the level here will be like against the level Carmen has been used to in New Zealand as she’s not competed in Malaysia for a long time.

“But we do need some medals, of any colour, to drive the interest in the sport over here,” added Tuck Kar, who has 15 swimmers, nine boys and six girls, under his charge for the Malaysia Games.

NST