SINGAPORE – From next year, Republic Polytechnic (RP) students will get a chance to work with the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) and be involved in organising top-class swimming events.

This came following the inking of a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the institute and the national sports association at the OCBC Aquatic Centre today (Oct 23).

The MOU will see RP’s School of Sports, Health and Leisure collaborate with the SSA in five different fields – sport science support, events, coaching development, talent and development, and programme management.

The collaboration will see, for example, RP students gaining industry experience at the SSA through their final year projects and internships. They may also get a first-hand experience at how top-class events, such as the FINA Swimming World Cup, are organised and executed.

The agreement will also see RP working with SSA – whose key disciplines include diving, swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo – to share spprts science expertise, and assist in organising events like conferences, training, and seminars for stakeholders of the aquatic fraternity.

Mr Edwin Ker, SSA executive director, said at the signing ceremony: “Through the MOU, we will conduct joint projects to help SSA strengthen its developments pathways across all four aquatic disciplines. In addition, the mutually beneficial collaboration will enhance sport science for athletes while providing RP students with relevant industry experience.”

Ms Goy Soon Lan, RP’s Director of the School of Sports, Health and Leisure, said the MOU marks a key milestone for sport in Singapore.

“This is especially timely in the background of skills future. We hope for athletes to look at the SSA as a one stop centre to upgrade themselves as they can immediately look at the programmes available for them to pursue rather than running all over the place,” she said. “We have students who have a strong interest in swimming and are passionate in coaching for swimming.”

National swimmer Benedict Boon, 19, represented Singapore at this year’s South-east Asian Games and is a Year 2 student at RP’s sports and leisure management course. The aspiring swim coach hopes this tie-up will help RP to groom more sports science experts.

“Once they are done with their studies, they can come back to help SSA,” he said. “It’s a cycle that will bring Singapore sports forward.”