KUALA LUMPUR: After splashing in the pool with a stellar show at the recently-concluded Malaysia Games (Sukma), will there be a spot for Johor swimmer Tan Rou Xin to make waves at the 2023 SEA Games?
Well, it looks like the best female athlete at this Sukma could be on the cards to compete at the biennial Games in Cambodia, in May next year.
Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary-general Mae Chen said they might consider to rope in the 16-year-old Rou Yin following her remarkable feat of taking home six golds, one silver and one bronze.
“Yes, we will definitely love to (include her). She is a promising multi-stroke swimmer, who can compete in all four events and the one to watch out for in the future for Malaysia.”
On her overall assessment on this year’s edition, Mae pointed out that 15-year-old Loo Yie Bing of Sabah and Federal Territories’ Dhuha Zulfikry, 13, had also oozed class.
“It was a highly competitive, challenging and healthy competition among all states. I was glad to see a lot of them going home happy,” she said.
Mae said MS had intended to offer all the gold medallists, who were not under the national training programme in Bukit Jalil, to be part of their fold.
She however, admitted that it would be quite difficult to get some of them to join the training there as some could be bound by the academic programmes in their respective states or even abroad.
“Although they can’t come over (for training), there will still be room for us to plan and negotiate with them. They can continue training in their respective states and after that, they can give us their training report.
“The only difference is that there is no allowance provided as well as some training benefits such as the support from the National Sports Institute but we can still consider them for national duty,” she added. — Bernama
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