KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Welson Sim has set a new championship record to win his first gold medal in the 2019 Malaysia Open Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre, in Kuala Lumpur Sports City, Bukit Jalil.
The national swimmer from Sarawak clocked a time of 3 minutes 50.32 seconds, to erase the previous record of 3:53.32s set by Kelvin Yeap in the men’s 400m freestyle.
The 22-year-old swimmer said he was satisfied with his results today, and was always happy with his swim especially in Malaysia, despite being 1.03 seconds slower than his own national record.
When asked about his plans, he said he would focus more on the Singapore Open in June which was only one month before the world championship, to make sure that he was in a good condition for the event.
“I have been training in Melbourne for the past three months and actually learned a lot from there, everything inside and outside the pool.
“My biggest goal this year is to be qualified for the Olympics and focus on the Singapore Open and world championship.
“The World Championship is one of the biggest tournaments in the world where all the top swimmers will be there, and it will be a great chance for me,” said the national swimmer who is leaving for Melbourne after the tournament.
Meanwhile, he also surpassed the qualifying time of the 18th Fina World Championships in Korea or B category (qualifying time 3:56.14 seconds) when he recorded a time of 3:50.32 seconds.
The first day of the championship saw Selangor topping the medal tally with two gold medals, followed by Sarawak and Johor with one gold medal each. — Bernama
