14 new records at swimming meet
Posted on January 16, 2012, Monday
DIVE FOR GOLD: A swimmer takes a practice jump at the 24th Kuching Age Group Swimming Competition held at Stampark swimming pool. A total of 150 participants took part in the competition which ended yesterday.
KUCHING: The 24th edition of the Kuching Age Group Swimming Championship saw fourteen new records created at Stampark swimming pool.
Organised by Kuching Amateur Swimming Association 2010 (KASA 2010), the annual swimming meet which ended yesterday was participated by around 150 swimmers from 30 schools.
“We have a total of 152 swimming events this year which saw fourteen new swimming record created.
KASA 2010 will not rest on our laurels and I hope that Sarawak swimmers will go on to have more success stories in the future,” said KASA 2010 president Dato Wee Hong Seng at the closing ceremony of the swimming competition.
According to Wee, KASA 2010 is very grateful that it can still host this annual championship over the years.
“We have been hosting this (tournament) for the past 24 years since 1988,” informed the KASA 2010 president.
Guest of honour Assistant Minister of Communications and Sports Datuk Lee Kim Shin revealed in his speech revealed that the new Aquatic Centre located at Jalan Keretapi will be completed in a couple of months time.
“With the existence of the Aquatic Centre, swimmers in Kuching area will have a more condusive enviroment for training purposes and the latest training facilities to hold a swimming meet in the future.
Swimmers must fully utilize the state-of the art facility.
Indeed Sarawak was always blessed with a fair share of quality swimmers and divers.
As identified by the government, aquatics is one of the sports to challenge for honours,” said Lee.
He added that historically, Sarawak had been the power house in aquatic sports especially swimming and diving for quite a long time.
Only until the recent years the state swimming team were in the doldrums for the last one or two Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA).
“Currently Sarawak still boast the following swimmers in the Malaysia national team – Erika Kong, Vernon Lee, Daniel Bego and Hii Siew Siew.
Thanks to their tremendous individual effort, Sarawak still managed to obtain its share of the gold medals.
It is also with this in mind that the Sports Ministry is in collaboration with the Educatiojn Department to unearth talents from all sports, swimming included from all the various schools in the state.
It is also my hope and wish that the schools will give overwhelming support for extra-curriculum activities like swimming” informed Lee.
Lee also disclosed that Sarawak is looking into setting up a comprehensive sport school in the near future to rival the likes of Bandar Pendawan Sport School in Johor Bharu, or even Bukit Jalil Sport School in Kuala Lumpur.
