Singer Alex Fong criticizes swimming association for ‘unfair system’

Michael Shum

The Hong Kong China Swimming Association has prioritized the association’s system over the interests of athletes, Hong Kong singer and former swimmer Alex Fong Lik-sun said, after a talented nine-year-old boy was denied the chance to join a local championship due to the low status of his swimming club.

The nine-year-old boy, who has been able to achieve outstanding results, belongs to the Hong Kong Swimming Academy co-founded by Fong, and as the club is only a “competition member club” under the association, at the bottom of the three-tier membership system, below “observer clubs” or “full members”, the boy was not allowed to join the local year-end championship.

The swimming association earlier released a statement saying that allowing all “competitive member clubs” to join the association’s championships would have a negative impact on the points system used to evaluate its affiliated clubs.

But Fong criticised the association for “focusing only on safeguarding its system, neglecting the interests of athletes and being indifferent to young swimmers with training potential in its affiliated swimming clubs”.

Fong said he never asked the association to “downgrade his swimming club from a ‘competitive member’ to an ‘observer club’,” and he wrote to the association in January expressing his intention to promote the sport and create competitive opportunities for young swimmers.

“I think all swimmers who meet the standards should be allowed to compete in the championship, not to mention the fact that (the nine-year-old swimmer) swam the standard time in a competition organized by the association,” Fong said.

He also suggested that championship points earned by swimmers through “competitive member clubs” would not count towards the association’s points system to avoid affecting the “distribution of resources” between affiliated clubs.

But his efforts were in vain, even though he contacted Ronnie Wong Man-chiu, chairman of the association, as no one contacted him after Sing Tao Daily – the Standard’s sister newspaper – exclusively reported the incident on June 29.

“Every year is important for the development of young swimmers, and swimmers cannot afford to miss the end-of-year championship after missing the one at the beginning of the year,” Fong said.

Singer Maria Cordero also lent her support to Fong, saying that her younger brother, son and grandsons are also members of the Hong Kong swimming team.

“Why doesn’t the system choose those who swim the fastest to compete? Why should swimmers join big clubs to compete? How is that fair?” Cordero asks.