MS intends to rope in Rouxin for 2023 SEA Games
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- After splashing in the pool with a stellar show at the recently-concluded 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma), will there be a spot for Johor swimmer, Tan Rouxin to make waves at the 2023 SEA Games?
Well, it looks like the best female athlete at this Sukma could be on the cards to compete at the biennial Games in Cambodia, in May next year.
Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary-general, Mae Chen said they might consider to rope in the 16-year-old Rouxin following her remarkable feat of taking home six golds, one silver and one bronze from the National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil at Sukma 2022.
“Yes, we will definitely love to (include Rouxin in the SEA Games squad),” she told Bernama when contacted today.
“This is due to the fact that Rouxin is a promising multi-stroke swimmer, who can compete in all four events and the one to watch out for in the future for Malaysia,” she added.
Asked whether the girl could fill the void left by Phee Jinq En should the national swimmer retire soon, Mae said it was still too early to say that but she believes that Rouxin is on the right path to shine.
On her overall assessment of all the swimmers' performance at the 20th Sukma, she pointed out that apart from Rouxin, other young swimmers including 15-year-old Loo Yie Bing of Sabah and Federal Territories athlete, Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry, 13, had also oozed class in the pool.
“It was a highly competitive, challenging and healthy competition among all states. I was glad to see a lot of them going home happy,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mae disclosed that MS had intended to offer all 20th Sukma gold medallists, who are not under the national training programme in Bukit Jalil, to be part of the setup soon.
However, she admitted that it would be quite difficult to get some of them to join the training there as they are bound by the academic programmes in their respective states or even abroad.
“Although they can’t come over (for training), there will still be room for us to plan and negotiate with them. They can continue training in their respective states and after that, they give us their training report to us.
“The only difference is that there is no allowance provided as well as some training benefits such as the support from the National Sports Institute but at the end of the day, we can still consider them for national duty,” she said.
-- BERNAMA
