KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Penang swimmer Alwyn Tan set a new national record in the men’s 50m freestyle at the Malaysian Open Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil here today.
Alwyn, 17, clocked 23.17 seconds in the heats to erase the old mark of 23.42s set by Selangor’s Foo Jian Beng in 2011.
Alwyn’s time earned him a ticket to the Singapore SEA Games in June.
“I am really happy,” said Alwyn, who is not in the national squad but training under the Penang Swimming Club. “I just feel that I have accomplished something that I really wanted to. I missed this like three or four times already and this is the first time I did it.”
He noted that the record would boost his confidence to splash his way to a medal when making his debut in the Singapore SEA Games.
Alwyn clocked 23.40s to bag the gold medal while Keith Lim of Kuala Lumpur settled for the silver with a time of 23.74s and Chan Jie of Selangor took the bronze with a time of 23.98s.
National swimmer Kevin Yeap was another swimmer to book a ticket to the 2015 FINA World Championships scheduled for August in Kazan, Russia.
The 26-year-old Perak-born swimmer clocked 15 minutes 45.76s en route to a gold medal in the men’s 1,500m freestyle and earned a ticket to his fifth SEA Games, which was better than the Category B qualifying mark of 15:45.97s.
Vernon Lee of Sarawak took silver (16:05.31s) and Wong Jun Bin of Kuala Lumpur won bronze with a time of 16:25.49s.
After four days, Selangor topped the leaderboard with 11 gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals. Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association are in second place with nine gold medals while Johor are third with six gold, two silver and a bronze medal. — Bernama
