Kuching to hold 2019 World Para C’ship come July
KUCHING: Kuching will make history as the first city in Asia to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championship at Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre here from July 29 to August 4 this year.
It will be the biggest para swimming championship before Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and will be an important step in the growth and development of para swimming sports in this region.
The championships will be jointly organised by the Sarawak government, the Paralympic Council of Malaysia and the World Para Swimming.
A Local Organising Committee (LOC) called Kuching Para Swimming Organising Committee 2019 (KUPSOC2019) has been formed to hold the championship.
The committee held its first meeting on May 14, 2018, the second meeting on Aug 3, 2018 with its third meeting held yesterday.
The members of the committee are from the various agencies of the Sarawak State Government headed by Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister who is the joint chairman together with Datuk Sri Hajah Fatimah Abdullah, Minister of Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development.
Both ministers will mobilise various state agencies to provide the necessary support systems to deliver the championship.
Meanwhile, the president of Paralympic Council of Malaysia, SM Nasarudin Tan Sri Datuk Seri Utama SM Nasimuddin and the other co-chairman shall manage the technical aspects with a pool of team members from the council.
Yesterday, Karim held a press conference at the Stadium Negeri Sarawak to announce the confirmation of the event and field questions from the press.
Replying to a question from Sarawak Tribune on the difficulty or challenges in the bidding process, Datuk Karim said the IPC had made two visits to Sarawak prior to the voting in Mexico last year.
“The result was an overwhelming sense of intrigue from all the members who are now very excited to visit Sarawak. The IPC were pleasantly surprised at the level of readiness that we have here and that in turn led to a unanimous decision to have the event held in Sarawak in 2019.”
“So we are proud that the international community would recognise Sarawak as a viable venue for international events such as this one.”
Karim stressed that this is the first time for the event to be held in Asia, let alone Malaysia and will act as a precursor for the Olympics in Japan in 2020 and the follow up event, the Paralympics scheduled the same year, also in Japan.
“The Japanese will be sending a sizeable squad to our event because the times (race times) will be used as qualifying times to qualify for the Paralympics in Japan.”
He added: “Not only will we be seeing delegates from 80 countries, be they participants or officials, but we will be seeing a huge press corps who will follow the contingents. I know that Japan’s NHK will be coming and as of now we have bookings from 15 countries in terms of early birds.”
On the readiness in terms of live broadcasting capabilities the Minister said this was the main reason for the Sarawak government to support the entry of the Asian Television Awards in Kuching later this month.
“We are preparing for the future. There will be a lot more of international events and we will learn from the ATV Awards which will broadcast to 2 billion homes in Asia and when the IPC is here it will be more as there are 80 countries to reach out to.”
When asked on the status of volunteers for the event, Karim confirmed that there will be a mix of international and local volunterers, adding that he is impressed with the attitude of the volunteers who have already come forward at this stage.
“One family from Holland has written to us on their willingness not to just volunteer but they are even willing to pay their own way to come here,” he said.
Karim said he and the organising committee will look into ways to help out the volunteers in terms of accommodation and transportation while here. In terms of tourism, the Minister said the 8,000 foreigners who are expected to come here during the event can act as ambassadors and bring their good experience here home to be shared with their friends and loved ones.
He disclosed plans to treat officials to some tourism products that are in close proximity with Kuching city to allow them to experience first hand the wonderful experience Sarawak can provide to future tourists around the world.
