Sailors check out Enoshima waters
MALAYSIAN sailors are starting to get used to the conditions at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour nine days before their Olympic event.
The sailing team were the first group of athletes from Malaysia to arrive in Japan — on July 8.
They are acclimatising under coach Afendy Abdullah before the competition starts on July 25.
Malaysia will be represented by Khairulnizam Afendy in men’s laser radial, Nur Shazrin Latif in women’s laser radial and the combination of Nuraisyah Jamil and Juni Karimah Noor Jamali in women’s International 470.
Afendy said the national sailors had competed in the Enoshima waters before, but then the wind conditions there are never the same.
This has led to the coach believing that everyone from the competing countries has a chance to win, and he said the Malaysian athletes should not think whether they are well prepared or not.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected
our preparation, but I see the positive and negative impacts of it.
“The European sailors got a good block of training and competition before the Olympics compared to us. They would be in form for the Olympics.
“However, no sailors have sailed in Enoshima before the Olympics, so it will be an open field. Usually the sailors would have arrived months before the competition to acclimatise.
“Now everyone has around nine days to train at the venue, so it will be an open competition this time around. Japan is having its rainy season, it should become warmer with the summer starting, the winds coming from
Tokyo Bay should be picking up.”
According to Afendy, Olympic debutants Nuraisyah and Juni should have no pressure on them, but three-time Olympian Khairulnizam and two-time Olympian Nur Shazrin might feel the burden of expectations.
“Nizam is in his third Olympics, so there’s a bit of pressure on him to do well but I remind him to just focus on doing his best. It’s the same with Shazrin,” said Afendy who is also the father of Khairulnizam.
“As we get closer to the competition, my focus is to make sure the sailors are healthy and fit. We also keep an eye on the athletes’ movement to avoid Covid-19.”