Hiring foreign swimming coach top priority: SLASU president Nanayakkara
The Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) president Nethru Nanayakkara said their main priority is to hire a foreign coach to co-ordinate development activities islandwide after swimming activities resume once the health situation in the country improves.
They hope to get down a coach from abroad in consultation with the Sports Ministry from either China, America or Hungary.
“We have a good selection committee and there are good clubs also. What we need is a coaching director to co-ordinate programmes all over the country. We have good quality local coaches. They are well trained and can go to Singapore to do the Level 1 and 2 exams. I am going to request the Sports Ministry to help us recruit and sustain a top coach from overseas,” said Nanayakkara, who faces the additional challenge of resuscitating the sport following the period of inactivity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the two leading swimming coaches in the country Julian Bolling and Manoj Abeysinghe are fully engaged with their activities, the task of the new coaching director would be to oversee the national programme.
“We don’t have a national coach now. We appoint head coaches whenever there is a necessity like for the South Asian Games (SAG) and other international competitions. In Sri Lanka there are many Level 1, 2 and 3 coaches but we don’t have the higher Level 4 and 5 qualified coaches. The coaching director would be one who has that qualification,” said Nanayakkara.
“In swimming they don’t train together. They train with individual coaches all over the world including Olympic great Michael Phelps. For SAF (South Asian) Games once a week they have to get together to practice relays. Our coaches are of very good quality. We need money to expand from here. We don’t need equipment. We need a coach,” reiterated Nanayakkara.
Apart from a couple of competitions early in the year, most national and international swimming events had to be postponed. The aquatic union hopes they could stage the Novices Swimming Championship which was scheduled to be held in March and a few school championships before December 31.
SLASU has decided not to convene the national pool to conduct daily training sessions until the Public Health Inspectors or the Health Ministry grants approval to open swimming pools.
“There are more than 30 schools and clubs in the country who have built swimming pools in line with the standards of the Sugathadasa Stadium but none of these can be opened for activity without health ministry authorisation”, said Nanayakkara although he believed that the new coronavirus won’t be transformed through water because of chlorine.