By DayakDaily Team
SELANGOR, Aug 21: Despite only being able to train together for about a week, Sarawak divers Elvis Priestly Clement and Jared Aiden Harold nevertheless proved their mettle by winning gold for Sarawak in the men’s synchronised 10m platform event at the 22nd Selangor Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2026 on Thursday (Aug 20).
According to the Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas), the victory was even more significant because of their limited preparation, as the two had been training separately and had to rebuild their synchronisation in a short period ahead of the Games.
Jared said joint preparations with Elvis were limited because of their respective training commitments, including his participation in an external training camp, which prevented them from training together consistently.
“Preparation with Elvis was really limited because I attended an external training camp, and we only resumed training together in the synchronised event about a week before Sukma.
“The last time we competed together in the synchronised event was at the 2022 Sukma in Kuala Lumpur. So, we did not expect to win gold this time because the competition was strong and our preparations were very limited,” he said when met after the medal presentation ceremony at the Darul Ehsan Aquatic Centre here.
Meanwhile, Elvis said he was happy with their achievement, though he was not completely satisfied with their performance.
“Of course, we are happy to win gold, but in terms of our performance, we are still not entirely satisfied. Nevertheless, we are grateful for what we have achieved. We had both only just started to regain our synchronisation in the event,” he said.
Elvis described this year’s Sukma as an important platform for regaining his competitive rhythm before representing the country at the Asian Games, particularly in the men’s synchronised 10m platform event with Enrique.
He said their main target would be to win a medal, although he acknowledged that the challenge at the Asian level would be tough, particularly against diving powerhouse China. — DayakDaily
