Nghe An coach has been involved in diving for nearly 20 years
(Baonghean.vn) - From a swimmer to a diving coach, the career of Mr. Ho Phi Luoc - Head of the swimming and diving department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center has gone through many ups and downs.
One day in September, by the swimming pool of the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center, amidst the splashing sound of divers splashing in the water, coach Ho Phi Luoc told us about his career in competition and training as well as his concerns about this sport.
Nearly 20 years of coaching career
Born in 1969 in Quynh Doi commune (Quynh Luu) - a locality with a rich tradition in diving, Ho Phi Luoc knew how to swim and swam well from a very early age.
“At that time, my hometown had many ponds, canals, and ditches, so most children in the village and commune learned to swim early to avoid drowning. When I was about 4-5 years old, my father and older brothers and sisters taught me how to swim. When I was proficient, I often competed with my friends on the local irrigation canal. During my secondary school years, I always won first place in swimming competitions organized by the school and district,” coach Ho Phi Luoc said.
In 1984, at the age of 15, Ho Phi Luoc was recruited by coaches from Nghe Tinh Sports Training School (now the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center) into the unit's swimming department, starting his career as a high-performance athlete. However, in those years, because swimming was a relatively young sport in the province's high-performance sports system, despite being one of the province's leading swimmers, Ho Phi Luoc's achievements at national championships were not very outstanding.
In nearly 7 years as an athlete, the only Gold Medal that Ho Phi Luoc won was at the National Youth Swimming and Diving Championship in 1988. At the National Swimming and Diving Championships and National Club Championships, the highest achievement that Ho Phi Luoc won was a Silver Medal.
In 1991, at the age of 22, after disappointing results at national championships, Ho Phi Luoc retired from his athletic career. In the same year, he passed the entrance exam to the Central College of Physical Education and Sports 3 (Da Nang University of Physical Education and Sports), majoring in swimming and diving.
In 1994, after graduating, Ho Phi Luoc was given the opportunity to work at the Provincial Sports Training School. In his new position, Ho Phi Luoc devoted all his passion and experience to teaching young athletes.
After a 1-year probationary contract, in 1995, he was officially assigned to the unit. Also in that year, at the first national tournament to send students to compete, the National Youth Swimming and Diving Championship, Ho Phi Luoc had the first achievements in his coaching career when his students won 3 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal in swimming. After this tournament, athletes Dau Thi Loi, Dang Xuan Quy and Le Thi Minh were called to the National Youth Swimming Team.
In 1996, when the diving department of the School of Physical Education and Sports was established, Ho Phi Luoc became the unit's first diving coach. In 1997, at the first National Swimming and Diving Championship that Ho Phi Luoc participated in as a coach, his students won 2 Silver Medals, 1 Bronze Medal in swimming; 1 Bronze Medal in diving.
Since 1998, Ho Phi Luoc has focused entirely on his work as a diving coach. Since then, he has regularly brought his students to participate in three national competitions each year: the National Youth Swimming and Diving Championship, the National Club Swimming and Diving Championship, and the National Age Group Swimming and Diving Championship.
Although his students won medals almost every year, it was not until 2017 that Nghe An diving had its first Gold Medal from an athlete.Nguyen Trong Dung(Born 2003) at the National Club Swimming Championship.
Since then, Nguyen Trong Dung has become the "golden goose" of Nghe An sports as well as Vietnam's diving when he won 4 more Gold Medals at the National Youth Swimming and Diving Championship, 5 Gold Medals at the National Club Swimming and Diving Championship, 1 Gold Medal at the National Age Group Swimming and Diving Championship, 2 Gold Medals at the National Sports Festival, 2 Gold Medals at the SEA Games and 2 Gold Medals at the World Cup Diving Championship.
Along with Nguyen Trong Dung, among the current students of coach Ho Phi Luoc, there is another promising face, Nguyen Tu Anh (born in 2007). This year, this young female athlete won 1 Gold Medal, 1 Bronze Medal at the National Age Group Diving Championship, 1 Silver Medal, 1 Bronze Medal at the National 25m Pool Diving Championship and 3 Silver Medals, 1 Bronze Medal at the National Youth Diving Championship.
Concerns
In nearly 20 years of coaching, Ho Phi Luoc said he has experienced many ups and downs. Before bursting into happiness with the Gold Medals that Nguyen Trong Dung and Nguyen Tu Anh won in recent tournaments, he had experienced a feeling of "extreme stress" from 2021 onwards, when his students failed to complete the diving target of their home province at the National Sports Festival.
“The National Sports Festival is a major sporting event, taking place every four years; localities and sectors have made careful preparations, so the pressure to achieve results is therefore very high. In 2014, after four Games failed to meet the medal target, I felt confused, then depressed and thought about changing jobs. However, with the encouragement and continued trust of the center's leaders, I continued to stick with the job,” Ho Phi Luoc said.
In 2018, diving was not included in the 8th National Sports Festival. In 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, many diving tournaments were canceled.
“Those incidents seemed to be disadvantageous for the teachers and students of the provincial diving department, but they were an opportunity for me to review the training, find plans and strategies... for my students. In particular, during the 2 years of complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, I took advantage of the isolation and lockdown periods to focus on correcting the techniques and competition mentality of my students, including Nguyen Trong Dung and Nguyen Tu Anh. Perhaps thanks to that, since 2022, the competition results of Nghe An diving athletes have improved a lot,” coach Ho Phi Luoc shared.
It is known that the swimming and diving department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center is currently assigned 26 targets, divided into 3 lines: gifted line, youth line and provincial line. Talented athletes only practice swimming, after 1 year if they can develop in swimming, they will continue to practice, the rest are oriented to diving.
In recent years, the achievements of swimming and diving in Nghe An have been mainly in diving. However, this sport is currently facing many difficulties. In addition to the general difficulties of the whole country such as not being in the ASIAD or Olympic competition system, being in group 3 of Vietnamese sports, making it difficult to require large investment in resources for diving; few tournaments both domestically and internationally..., Nghe An diving also has its own difficulties such as not having a 4-season pool, the pool does not have a roof, lack of funds for long-term training in winter and especially lack of equipment and training tools.
Currently, diving equipment such as air hoses and fins are lacking and often damaged, requiring repair and patchwork for practice; physical training equipment is also not uniform. "Coaches sometimes have to call on the parents of athletes to join hands to support the purchase of underwater equipment, and partially support the costs so that the athletes can train in Da Nang for longer periods in the winter. However, this is not easy because many athletes' families are in very difficult circumstances," said coach Ho Phi Luoc.
I really hope that in the coming time, diving will receive more attention and investment from relevant departments and sectors so that athletes have better training conditions, thereby feeling secure in sticking with the sport and further improving their achievements."
Coach Ho Phi Luoc - Head of Swimming and Diving Department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center