Skip to main content

Debaran enam perenang negara


CAI LIN antara enam perenang negara yang masih menunggu keputusan FINA untuk beraksi pada Sukan Olimpik di London bulan depan.


"SAYA tidak bimbang tetapi kecewa jika tiada slot untuk perenang negara."
Itu reaksi jurulatih renang negara, Paul Birmingham ketika ditanya mengenai peluang anak- anak buahnya untuk beraksi pada Sukan Olimpik 2012 di London bulan depan.
Ketika ini, Birmingham dihimpit dilema apabila Persekutuan Akuatik Antarabangsa (FINA) masih belum mengesahkan dua slot jemputan (wildcard) kepada perenang negara yang sepatutnya dilakukan pada 22 Jun lalu.

"Seperti yang kita sedia maklum, peraturan baharu yang diperkenalkan FINA bagi kelayakan renang Olimpik kali ini memang cukup merumitkan.

"Ini kerana mereka (FINA) seolah-olah memberi perhatian yang lebih kepada 16 negara terbaik sahaja.
"Bagi negara kerdil seperti Malaysia yang berada di tengah-tengah kelompok negara besar tersebut, laluan kita memang susah walaupun mempunyai enam perenang yang layak (ke London)," kata Birmingham ketika ditemui di Pusat Akuatik, Bukit Jalil semalam.
Berbanding Sukan Olimpik 2008 di Beijing, perenang yang melepasi had masa kelayakan B akan layak secara automatik beraksi pada temasya tersebut.

Bagaimanapun, berdasarkan peraturan baharu FINA, keadaannya tidak sama lagi apabila kelayakan B hanya dianggap sebagai 'jemputan'.

Lebih malang, standard had masa kelayakan A yang ditetapkan FINA adalah hampir mustahil untuk dilepasi oleh mana-mana perenang negara.
Bagi kebanyakan perenang negara, had masa kelayakan B adalah satu-satunya cara untuk mereka beraksi di bumi London.

Lebih merumitkan keadaan, nasib mereka yang berada dalam senarai jemputan bergantung sama ada FINA dapat mengumpul 900 perenang yang layak menerusi had kelayakan A atau tidak.
"Sebab itu, peluang kita amat sukar. Bukan tidak ada tetapi situasi tersebut membuatkan kita mengharap keajaiban berlaku," ujarnya.

Setakat ini, perenang yang telah berjaya melepasi masa kelayakan B ialah Khoo Cai Lin bagi acara 400 meter (m) gaya bebas, Chui Lai Kwan (50 meter gaya bebas wanita), Christina Loh (100 meter kuak dada wanita), Siow Yi Ting (100, 200 meter kuak dada wanita), Yap See Tuan (200 meter kuak dada lelaki) dan Kevin Yeap (1500 meter gaya bebas lelaki).

Birmingham turut menegaskan, sekiranya tiada perenang negara yang layak beraksi pada Olimpik nanti, ia bukanlah disebabkan oleh prestasi hambar mereka.

"Jika mereka gagal beraksi, ia disebabkan sistem dan peraturan yang menyusahkan.
"Hingga kini, prestasi mereka amat bagus dan cukup layak untuk bertanding pada Sukan Olimpik.
"Mereka cukup bersedia sekiranya dipanggil untuk bertanding di London nanti," jelasnya.




Oleh SHANIKA ABDULLATIB
shanika.latib@kosmo.com.my

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...