A spring in diver’s step

Feeling positive: Chew Yiwei feels he can put up a strong bid to make the cut for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

PETALING JAYA: Not being called an Olympian remains a blot in Chew Yiwei’s resume and it is something he wants to overcome next year.

Although the Selangor-born diver is now busy with his internship at a software engineering firm, he is not backing away from his commitments with the national team.

Based on his performance at the just concluded Malaysia International Online Diving competition, Yiwei feels he can put up a strong bid to make the cut for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

The 25-year-old finished second behind teammate Ooi Tze Liang in the individual 3m springboard.

“I think there is definitely something good to take from the competition. The competition feel is there and I’m quite happy with the outcome as I was bugged by a slight leg injury and just returned to training, ” said Yiwei.

“I’ll have to focus more on strength training in the next three months, just nice for my biggest mission next year, ” said Yiwei, who showed he is up to the challenge of making the Olympic cut when he won bronze at the 2018 Indonesia Asian Games.

“I’ve yet to qualify for the Olympics and that is something I’ll be excited to achieve next year. That will be my goal when I go for the Diving World Cup in Tokyo in April, ” he added.

The current situation is surprisingly a blessing in disguise for him as he has time to focus on his internship.

“With no competitions, I can now graduate earlier and this situation has been ideal for me.

“I currently work from home for about four hours and then train for the rest of the day.”

The Diving World Cup meet is the last qualifier for the Olympics, which was postponed to next August because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Four women divers, Pandelela Rinong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Wendy Ng Yan Yee and Leong Mun Yee have made the cut for Tokyo.