KUALA LUMPUR: Sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli believes it will take three to five years before Malaysian aquatics will see the results of structural and programme changes made in the last 12 months.
The Olympic qualifying window has essentially come to an end for Malaysian swimmers and divers, and only one athlete — diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises — was able to qualify on merit for next month's Paris Olympics.
Khiew Hoe Yean, who has been Malaysia's best swimmer in recent years, capped his campaign at the Singapore National Swimming Championships with a bronze (15:45.37s) in the men's 1,500m freestyle yesterday (June 15).
He also claimed two gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle events earlier in the tournament, but was unable to meet the Olympic qualifying time in his events.
Tan Rouxin also did well to claim bronze (2:21.09s) in the women's 200m individual medley in Singapore, but did not meet the qualifying time in the event.
Malaysian swimmers will now have to wait for Fina to announce the allocation of universality places (wildcards) later this month. Divers will have to see if there are any unused quotas available. Fina will inform countries that received the unused quotas by July 8.
Pekan said results would not come overnight for Malaysian aquatics.
"I have to commend the authorities for implementing changes to improve Malaysian aquatics," said Pekan when contacted today (June 16).
"We, however, cannot expect the results to come quickly.
"I anticipate that we will be able to see improvements in swimming over the next three to five years if the planning that has been put in place is executed well.
"For diving, I believe it will take much longer, possibly between five to 10 years.
"This is because it takes longer to develop divers. We have to start them off from a very young age as divers tend to peak anywhere between 15 to 20 years of age.
"We have to have a larger pool of talent to ensure that we no longer have to rely on divers who are already past their best."
Malaysian aquatics has suffered a steady decline over the past decade, which led to changes in the Malaysia Aquatics (MAS) leadership last year.
The new MAS committee has implemented substantial changes, including the appointment of technical directors for both swimming and diving to oversee development from the grassroots to the elite level.
New coaches have also been appointed for the elite and backup squads, while dormant state affiliates have also been encouraged to restart their programmes under the guidance of MAS and the National Sports Council (NSC).
The NSC, working together with MAS, is also executing a five-year (2024-2028) blueprint for diving with the goal of producing talent capable of challenging for honours at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
The government's new high-level committee for sports, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is also placing an emphasis on boosting development in swimming.
This is because the sport offers a large amount of medals at multi-sport competitions such as the Sea Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.