KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian swimmers are gaining valuable insights from training with Danish stars Rasmus Nickelsen and Thea Blomsterberg.
New national coach Eric Anderson has arranged for Nickelsen and Blomsterberg to come to Malaysia.
Nickelsen, 21, won the 2019
European Youth Olympic Festival gold in the 100m butterfly and
is the Danish national record holder in the 50m and the 100m butterfly.
Blomsterberg, 22, is ranked fifth in the world in the 200m breaststroke.
"Nickelsen is here to prepare to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
"He's top 25 in the world in the short course butterfly. He will be coming back here after Olympic trials to prepare for the European championships and hopefully the Olympics," said Canadian Anderson.
"Thea was No. 5 in the world rankings last year.
"I've been coaching her since I got to Denmark three years ago and we've got quite a journey from No. 85 in the world to No. 5, in over two and half years," said Anderson, who is a former Denmark national coach.
"She has already qualified for Paris and is here doing her preparation for the Olympics. She'll be traveling alongside the Malaysia team to the Olympics.
"I'm very happy with Malaysia Aquatics' decision to allow me to support them through the remainder of the Olympic journey.
"That's really important for me and they're bringing a lot to the environment here in Bukit Jalil.
"I think having a world-class set of athletes in the programme really opens the eyes and ears of the Malaysian athletes to know what is possible."
Anderson, who replaced American Chris Martins as Malaysia's national coach, said he is glad for the support from Malaysia Aquatics and Danish Swimming Federation.
Anderson said he has been receiving enquiries from foreign athletes on training in Malaysia, and this, he feels, can add value to Malaysian swimming when they train in Bukit Jalil.
"Denmark is so supportive of them being here both financially and conceptually. Hopefully, we can do some things," he said.
"Hopefully we can collaborate with other countries for training camps, for us to learn from them and for them to learn from us."
KW: swimming, Malaysia Aquatics, Danish Swimming Federation, Rasmus Nickelsen, Thea Blomsterberg, Eric Anderson