KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian diving is drowning, but plans to save the sport are underway.
Malaysia Aquatics (MAS) and the National Sports Council (NSC) have got together for a new development programme following a post-mortem.
The country's talent pool has virtually run dry as for the first time in 24 years, no Malaysian women's divers were able to qualify for this year's Olympics. In the men's section, teenager Bertrand Rhodict Lises is Malaysia's sole qualifier.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said she had met with the coaches, divers and MAS officials for their feedback.
"NSC had done the post-mortem, and they have summarised everything from the post-mortem. It's now with the working committee and they will do the reforms that are needed," said Yeoh.
NSC deputy director general Jefri Ngadirin said MAS will announce the new plans soon.
He said the diving working committee had started the reform plans under MAS technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas and high-performance director Khairul Safwan Mansor.
"Once the plan is passed, the association will make the announcement, and we believe it can change the landscape of Malaysian diving and fix the shortfalls."
In retrospect, women's divers have been a mainstay of the Malaysian contingent at the Olympics since the 2000 edition in Sydney.
Pandelela Rinong created history by becoming the first Malaysian women's diver to win a medal when she clinched the bronze in the 10m platform at the 2012 London Olympics.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Pandelela paired up with world champion Cheong Jun Hoong to win the synchronised 10m platform silver,
However, things started to go downhill since then as Jun Hoong, Pandelela, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Wendy Ng and Leong Mun Yee failed to finish on the podium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.