It hasn’t sink in yet for Martin that swim meet is on

A swimming competition while the Covid-19 outbreak is still a big worry throughout the world is the last thing national coach Chris Martin had expected.

In fact, it is becoming a reality, as the Malaysia Swimming (MS) have fixed Oct 9-11 to hold a national meet for the swimmers at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.

There are also plans to get the para swimmers under the National Sports Council’s programme to take part alongside their able bodied counterparts.

The government has given leeway to sporting activities under the recovery movement control order and the American coach, who has been here for more than a year, just cannot believe it’s happening.

“I’ve been hearing from colleagues around the world that we are the safest.

“It is ‘burning’ everywhere in the United States and swimming activities in most places have stopped.

“It’s tough going even in Europe where national centres are up but nothing is happening in the provinces.

“Earlier, the outbreak did not stop swimming in Vietnam but now they have to stop as cases were increasing.

“Nobody in the world has commit to anything before January and yet we have a chance to swim competitively.

“It fits in perfectly as I was hoping to have one international competition in January,” said Martin.

The national swim meet will involve three age-groups – 14-15, 16-17 and Open categories – to go through timed trials and finals.

The meet will follow strict standard operating procedures as advised by the National Security Council.

“The states are just waiting for this to happen and I am just excited it’s happening,” he added.

It will be a good chance for the Olympic hopefuls like Welson Sim, Phee Jinq En, Khiew Hoe Yean and Sebastian Soon to gauge their level of competitiveness after resuming training in Bukit Jalil two months back.