KUALA LUMPUR: Khiew Hoe Yean splashed his way to a new men’s national 200-metre (m) individual medley (IM) record in the 65th Malaysia Open Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil today.
The 20-year-old, who won gold in the previous edition of the SEA Games, clocked two minutes and 03.77 seconds (s) to erase the old mark of 2:03.86s which Lim Ching Hwang (now representing Singapore) set in the 2016 Bahamas Championships.
Hoe Yean, however, could only bag the bronze medal behind Taiwan’s Wang Hsing Hao (2:01.50s) and Namibia’s Wantenaar Ronan Zuberg (2:03.64s).
The Malaysian was thrilled to have set a new national mark on home soil and is determined to break the record again.
“I definitely did not expect to break the record because my goal was just to do my best. At first, I didn’t realise it but others told me about it (the national record).
“It’s good because it’s a new record and a new standard. I hope next time I can clock a better time because the difference (between the winner and me) is only a few seconds. Anyway, so far so good and I hope to continue in the same mode tomorrow,” he told reporters, here, today.
He also won gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay with Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry, Muhammad Farhan Andi Maro and Jayden Tan but ended up fourth in the men’s 100m freestyle. – Bernama