KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — Young national swimmer Magdalene Lau did well in her first appearance in open water competition by winning silver at the South-east Asia Open Water Swimming Championships (SEAOWSC) in the Putrajaya Lake today.

The Sarawak-born swimmer finished the women’s five-kilometre race for the 16-17 age group with a time of 1 hr 3 min 48.4 sec in the inaugural championships.

Thai swimmer Catherine Sherratt won the three-lap race with a time of 1:03:33.07s while Singaporean Ashkey Ng came in third in 1:04:18.2s.

Magdalene’s silver medal effort put her in fifth spot overall when combined with participants in three other categories, namely 14-15 years, 18-19 years and 20 years and above (open).

"I did not expect to be up on the podium because I have just ventured into the open water discipline recently and this is my first competiton.

"I will definitely treasure this medal, which came on my debut in representing the country,” she said in a statement.

Another Malaysian swimmer, Lim Kai Yi, also gave a commendable performance, winning silver in the same category for men.

The Perak-born athlete clocked 59:04.6s to finish behind winner Nitis Natesawang of Thailand (58:51.6s), while another Thai swimmer, Piampan Piamkum, settled for bronze with a time of 59:08.9s.

"I managed to beat my personal best by four minutes but it was expected because I had competed in open sea before.

"I want to be as good as my ‘sifu’ Kevin Yeap (2017 SEA Games gold medallist) and follow in his footsteps. I hope my podium finish at the Southeast Asian level will be a stepping stone for future championships,” he added.

SEAOWSC started today and will continue with the 10km race tomorrow. — Bernama