New technical head ready to ‘dive into action’
I am excited to give back to my country. Although it is quite a big responsibility, I am willing to share my experience to help national divers move forward.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bryan Nickson Lomas, the new technical director for the national diving squad, has already set his sights on two missions although he will only report for duty on Oct 1.
The 33-year-old, who hails from Kuching, said his main aims are to collect data for new talent nationwide and groom potential world-class women divers.
“If there are no obstacles, I will, firstly, collect data to know how many men and women divers there are nationwide and see if we are on track (to producing new talents).
“I will also prioritise the production of talented women divers. It’s not that I’m neglecting the male divers, it’s just that, in reality, it’s easier to produce world-class women divers and there is a better chance to get Olympic medals,” he told Bernama.
The former national diver explained that the standard in women’s events was the same as two decades ago while for the men, the competitiveness level keeps becoming more challenging.
“The women need to do two basic dives and three with various degrees of difficulties, like the inward 3½ somersaults. As for the men, the level could go up to 4½ somersaults,” he said.
Although it’s possible to produce world-class male divers, the Sarawakian said more time
and attention were required to achieve that as they would need to familiarise themselves with a high degree of difficulty.
Bryan, who is still coaching in Kuwait, a post he has held since 2019, said all matters including negotiations about his new job had reached 70 per cent and he hopes to be back home soon.
“Of course, I am excited to give back to my country.
“Although it is quite a big responsibility, I am willing to share my experience to help the Malaysia Swimming Federation (MAS) and the national divers to move forward,” he said.
On Sept 10, MAS honorary secretary Andy Low said that besides Bryan, they have also appointed former national diver Khairul Safwan Mansur as the national high-performance diving director.
Bryan is one of Malaysia’s most successful male divers, having won medals at various international meets, including the SEA Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as well as having competed in three Olympics - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
He is also the youngest Malaysian athlete to qualify for the Olympics at the age of 14, in addition to becoming the country’s first diver to win a gold medal at the World Youth Championships when he emerged as the champion of the 3m springboard event in the 2004 edition in Brazil.
Khairul Safwan had represented the country around 2000, including at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and several editions of the World Cup.