Hong Kong swimmer Alex Fong accuses swimming association of ‘indifference’ towards young, promising swimmers
Hong Kong Free Press
Swimmer and actor Alex Fong has slammed the Hong Kong China Swimming Association over a dispute about competition qualification rules, calling the sports governing body “indifferent” towards young and promising athletes.
Fong’s remarks came after local media outlets reported that a nine-year-old swimmer from his swimming club had been denied entry into Hong Kong’s 2024 open championships despite recording a qualifying time.
In a statement last Friday, the Hong Kong China Swimming Association said that Fong’s club RippleFly Swim, was a “competition member” – the lowest of three member rankings – and thus not qualified to participate in championships.
“The association welcomes and encourages all affiliated clubs to actively participate in association affairs through positive and interactive communication, in order to jointly contribute to the development of the swimming sports in Hong Kong,” the sports body said in Chinese.
If competition members were allowed to participate in championships, it would “affect the scoring mechanisms of members,” the association added.
“Please avoid causing any disturbance to young swimmers or damaging the reputation of the association due to negative media coverage,” the statement said.
Taking to Facebook to express his anger, Fong said on Sunday that he was “furious [at] and disappointed” by the association’s response.
“The statement did not respond to the main issues… It was only concerned with maintaining the system of the governing body and disregarded the interests of athletes. It was indifferent towards the young and promising swimmers from its affiliated clubs,” Fong wrote in Chinese.
Hong Kong China Swimming Association
In the Facebook post, Fong added that he had tried to communicate with the governing body in January.
“I believe that any swimmer who obtains a qualifying time should be able to participate in the championships, not to mention swimmers who reach a qualifying time in a competition hosted by the swimming association,” Fong said.
“In my letter [to the body], I suggested that scores of swimmers from competition members would not be calculated and therefore it would not interfere other members,” Fong said, but he did not receive any response from the governing body over the past few months.
HKFP has reached out to the swimming association for comment.
Fong, who began representing Hong Kong at the age of 11, has earned several swimming records for the city. He represented Hong Kong at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, before becoming a singer and actor. He founded the swimming club in 2018.
Founded in 1952, the swimming association is the governing body of swimming and diving in Hong Kong, hosting local competitions and is a member of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China.
Formerly called the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association, the body changed its name in June 2021 following the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
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