Indonesian diving head coach dissatisfied with China tour

JAKARTA (JP): Diving head coach Harly Ramayani expressed dissatisfaction with her divers performance during a tour of China earlier this month, saying that they should have achieved better results.

"The divers managed to reach the semifinals but failed to progress to the finals. They couldn't realize their best potential, perhaps because they were nervous," she said on Thursday evening while attending the National Sports Council (KONI) roll call ceremony.

"However, the tour has opened their eyes to the ability of better divers. So far, they are the best in the country and that fact really impedes their progress.

"We must work harder, especially as Malaysian divers have also been training in China for about three months and they showed improvement during the competition," Harly said.

The Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) sent six divers -- Husaini Nur, Jimmy and M. Nasrullah in the men's team, and Eka Purnama, Nani Suryani and Shenny Ratna Amelia in the women's team -- to the Asian Championships in Tienjin, China, on May 28 and May 29, and the Grand Prix Final in Xi'an, China, from June 1 to June 3. The tour was the final component of their preparations for the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 this year.

Despite her dissatisfaction, Harly gave credit to Eka and Nani for their performance in the newly introduced synchronized diving event, despite the pair not being able to practice at home because Indonesia does not have a venue with twin diving towers.

"They trailed the Malaysian divers by only five points, although they have never tried it here before. They just practice the take off but not the full routine.

"We would achieve a better score if we could have a training session in China. I'm sure we could grab the gold medal in Kuala Lumpur," Harly said.

PRSI has requested some US$20,000 from KONI to finance a training stint in China.

From the six divers, only Shenny will compete in an individual event.

"Shenny is practically our best diver so she needs greater challenges. By competing in the two events she could gain experience from seeing the performances of other countries' divers.

"Her routines are already good, but she needs to improve her entry as she makes too large a splash. She has to reduce the splash to earn more points.

"I have consulted a Chinese coach in order to improve her entry. We will work it out soon. I think we can do more in the three months remaining prior to the SEA Games," Harly said.

Harly emphasized the need for Shenny to work with a sports psychologist to overcome her anxiety, especially after performing poorly in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she finished at the bottom of the table.

"Shenny always dives well during training, but she seemed to forget it all in competition.

"Perhaps she is still traumatized by her failure in Sydney. I think she needs a psychologist to remedy her trauma," Harly said. (nvn)