In search of the next Welson, Angela, Renee ...

KUCHING: Over 35 schools from across Kuching and Samarahan divisions will compete in the Kota Samarahan Amateur Swimming Association ( Kotas) annual interschool swimming meet at the Sarawak Aquatic Centre in Petra Jaya from Aug 5- 6.

The 7th edition of the joint Samarahan-Kuching swimming championship wi l l see both primary and secondary schools vying for the coveted Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah perpetual trophies.

Swimmers will compete in five age groups ranging from eight and below up to 18 years old.

Events will include all four stroke disciplines highlighted by the much- anticipated interschool relays.

“As in previous years, the relays will be contested in two categories, primary schools and secondary schools,” said Kotas president Alice Kwon.

Whi le schools compete for the top primary and secondary schools trophies, prizes wil l also be awarded for the best girl and boy swimmers in each age group.

Milo ( Nestle) will be sponsoring the medals and trophies.

Kotas pride itself as a leading swimming association in the state offering an innovative, integrated training programme to set budding swimmers to the highest levels of competition.

“As always, we are extremely grateful for Datuk Abdul Karim’s on- going suppor t of Kotas growth as well as that of many other ministers and members of parliament, corporations and individual philanthropists who have backed this meaningful community event which benefits all chi ldren and parents in both physical and character development,” said Kwon.

In a press statement, Kotas said it has grown from a humble “nonprofit” voluntary organisation to one which helped develop the f irst Malaysian swimmer to automatically qualify for three events ( 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle) under Category A of the Olympic Games.

That swimmer Welson Sim, now 20, joined Kotas when he was in primary school and was invited to join the national squad when he was 15 years old.

Other notable swimmers who swam under the wings of Kotas included Angela Chieng who won four gold medals for Sarawak in the 2016 Sukma, Anson Go, Tan Choon Fatt, Rachael Chang and Renee Chang.

12- year- old Renee was the youngest swimmer and Kotas had five out of 18 swimmers in the Sarawak squad at last year’s Sukma.

“We would like to create opportunities for al l young swimmers in Kuching and Samarahan to instill a huge passion in swimming and be identified as future champions for Sarawak,” added Kwon.

Enquiries on the upcoming championship can be directed to Kotas by contacting Jessielyn Lam at 016- 8782494 or Lydia Chinat 019- 8188688.

Entry fo r ms can be d ow nl o a d e d from the KOTAS web si t e a t www. kotasswimming. com and the closing date is July 10 at 5pm.