Rhodict running out of options to train in Europe

PETALING JAYA: Time is running out on getting the best training preparation for young diver Bertrand Rhodict leading up to his Paris Olympics debut.

Bertrand has expressed his willingness to set up base outside Malaysia, preferably in Europe, in his bid to be competitive against the field of top divers present in Paris in August.

The 18-year-old will be the only Malaysian diving representative in the Olympics as others did not make the grade at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last month.

Bertrand made the cut for Paris in men’s 10m individual platform event after finishing 10th in the final at the world meet in Fukuoka, Japan, last year.

But Malaysia Swimming Federation (MSF) secretary Andy Low said it was getting harder to arrange for a training stint for the Sarawakian with four months remaining before the Olympics.

“We want Bertrand to have better sparring partners and we can do that by getting him to be on a short training attachment overseas,” he said.

“But we have a problem as most of the countries, including England, have turned down our request for a joint training session.

“They are not keen as they also have divers preparing for the Olympics.

“Our technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas is still trying his best to talk to other countries that have good programmes.”

Bertrand has been accepted into the Road to Gold (RTG) programme and will be joined by diver Enrique Maccartney Harold, who has been placed in the Fast Track programme.

Enrique, 20, also from Sarawak, is the Cambodia SEA Games champion and the current partner for Bertrand in the men’s 10m platform synchro event.

Andy also welcomed the inclusion of the two in the Fast Track programme, geared at preparing athletes between 16 and 25 to do well at the Los Angeles Olympics.

“We are happy for their inclusion in RTG. We hope they will not be the only ones after this. We want to fast-track more divers to step up.

“We plan to have training centres in Selangor and Negri Sembilan to complement the existing ones in Sabah, Sarawak and Perak. This will also depend on the budget approval from the National Sports Council.”

On the exclusion of divers Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Andy said: We want to encourage the senior divers to work harder and improve their dives so that they can re-establish their presence.

“They are still under the Podium programme until the Thailand SEA Games.”