National Swimmers’ Training For SEA Games ‘Gone Viral’

The Malaysian silver medal-winning 4x200m freestyle relay team of (from left) Welson Sim, Daniel Bego, Kevin Yeap and Lim Ching Hwang at the Myanmar SEA Games in 2013. - Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: The national swimming team were hit by a flu bug last week.

It disrupted their training programme, but coach Paul Birmingham is hoping that the worst is over as he continues to prepare the squad for the Singapore SEA Games.

Three male swimmers – Welson Sim, Daniel Bego and Shaun Yap – were down with influenza and had to skip training for a few days. 

They rejoined training on Wednesday and Birmingham is hoping there’d be no lingering effects as the team go into the final phase of preparation before leaving for the SEA Games competition, which will be held at the OCBC Aquatic Centre from June 6-11.  

“Daniel had to seek hospital treatment. It’s some kind of viral infection. These things tend to ‘come up’ when we prepare for major competitions. When you are training hard and the body is weak, you tend to ‘catch’ things easily, said Birmingham.

“I don’t know how badly they’re affected ... we’ll have to see over the next couple of days as today is just the first day they’re back and pushing hard.

“At least it happened now ... not later.”

Birmingham is hoping that Welson and Daniel will recover their full fitness by the time the team set foot in Singapore as they’re expected to play key roles in Malaysia’s bid for gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay event for the first time. 

Malaysia will be hoping to avenge their narrow loss to Singapore in the same event at the Myanmar SEA Games two years ago.

The quartet of Lim Ching Hwang, Kevin Yeap, Daniel and Welson clocked 7:27.32 to take silver behind Singapore, who posted 7:26.67.

Malaysia, though, finished ahead of their neighbours at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last September despite missing the services of Daniel.

In Glasgow, the quartet of Kevin, Welson, Ching Hwang and Vernon Lee set a new national record of 7:26.74 in the 4x200m freestyle relay final. They finished seventh – just ahead of Singapore, who posted 7:28.01.

Welson is now the country’s fastest swimmer in 200m and 400m freestyle. The 18-year-old from Sarawak came agonisingly close to breaking Daniel’s national mark of 1:49.22 set in 2009 with a personal best of 1:49.67 in the men’s 200m freestyle at the Malaysian Open in March.

Welson, the MSSM Sportsboy for 2014, was in superb form in the 400m, clocking 3:53.93 to go within striking distance of Kevin’s national record of 3:53.26 set in 2013.

At the Myanmar Games, Christina won the 100m and 200m breaststroke golds. Daniel (400m freestyle) 

Malaysia Sending Smaller Swimming Squad To SEA Games

National swimmers Khoo Cai Lin (left) and Daniel Bego, winners at the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games, will compete at the Singapore Games in June. - Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will have a smaller group of swimmers compared to their main rivals at the Singapore SEA Games in June.

The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) have named 17 participants – nine men and eight women – for the Games.

Multiple SEA Games gold medallist Daniel Bego will lead the men’s squad. The others are Welson Sim, Wong Fu Kang, Lim Ching Hwang, Kevin Yeap, Tern Jian Han, Shaun Yap, Vernon Lee and Alywn Tan.

Christina Loh, the United States-based breaststroke specialist, will head the women’s team. Khoo Cai Lin, Erika Kong, Yap Siew Hui, Chui Lai Kwan, Phee Jinq En, Angela Chieng and Carolyn Chan are the others selected.

Four swimmers – Alwyn, Angela, Carolyn and Jinq En – will be making their debuts.

Seasoned campaigners Yap See Tuan, Ian James Barr, Asmalia Filzati Redzuan and Nadia Adrianna Redza all failed to make the squad.

Asum acting secretary Mae Chen said they would be happy to maintain the four-gold haul from the 2013 Myanmar Games.

“All those going are capable of bringing home medals. I believe there could be some surprises as some of them did pretty fast times at the recent Malaysian Open.

“But we do not want to be over confident at this point as we don’t know how our rivals are doing,” said Mae.

At the Myanmar Games, Christina won the 100m and 200m breaststroke golds. Daniel (400m freestyle) and Cai Lin (800m freestyle) contributed one gold each.

Welson, Erika Qualify For World Swim Meet

Welson Sim competing in one of the events at the 58th Malaysian Open Swimming Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

Erika Kong celebrating her victory in the women’s 200m breaststroke.

KUCHING: Welson Sim Wee Seng and Erika Kong Chia Chia will represent Malaysia at the Fina World Championships in Kazan, Russia from July 24 to August 9.

The Bukit Jalil-based swimmers from Sarawak made the cut for the world meet when they beat the qualifying times at the 58th Malaysian Open Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Welson splashed to three gold medals in the national championships in the men’s 100m freestyle (51.73s), 400m freestyle (3:53.91s) and his most impressive achievement – the 200m freestyle – in which he clocked 1:49.67s, which was only 0.45s off the national record of 1:49.67s set by fellow Sarawakian Daniel Bego in 2009.

As for Erika, she won the women’s 200 individual medley (2:20.80s) and 200m breaststroke (2:36.21s).

She was also second in the 50m breaststroke (32.47s) and 100m (1:12.19s), clocking times better than her personal bests.

Apart from the five gold medals, the nine-member Sarawak team also captured four silver and five bronze medals.

Angela Chieng Chui Fei, who had just joined the national squad beginning of this year, bagged the silver in the women’s 800m freestyle (9:09.10s) and the bronze in the 400m freestyle.

Vernon Lee Jeau Zhi delivered a silver medal in the men’s 1,500m freestyle with a time of 16:05.31s.

He finished third in the men’s 200m freestyle (1:52.62s) and 400m freestyle (4:01.31s).

Sarawak’s other bronze medals were contributed by Daniel Bego in the men’s 100m freestyle (52.08s) and 100m butterfly (55.53s).

State head coach Hii Hieng Chiong was satisfied with the team’s performance, saying that Welson and Erika had done very well in the meet.

“They have not only helped Sarawak win five gold medals but also booked their tickets to the world championships in Russia,” he said.

While those in the national squad have won medals, Hii said the international competition had provided good exposure for state swimmers like Nee Gui Ping, Alex Tiong, Tan Tyng and Leong Wan Ying.

“The state swimmers have managed to improve their personal bests and the best thing for Sarawak is that all swimmers except for Daniel Bego who competed at the meet are eligible for Sukma 2016,” he added.

He said sending them to compete in the Malaysian Open was part of the state’s preparations for Sukma XIX in Sarawak next year.


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/04/02/welson-erika-qualify-for-world-swim-meet/#ixzz3W7Db1Ct0

Globetrotting Dhabitah On A Mission

Dhabitah (left) will partner Wendy Ng (right) in the 3m springboard synchro at the Diving World Series meet.

PETALING JAYA: Diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri is certainly going places.

She is set to feature in the Diving World Series for the first time as the withdrawal of Australia’s Maddison Keeney-Annabelle Smith has paved the way for Malaysia to earn a slot in the women’s 3m springboard synchro in the two upcoming rounds in Kazan, Russia (April 24-26) and in London (May 1-3).

Keeney-Smith were the bronze medallist at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last year.

The 15-year-old will partner Wendy Ng Yan Yee in their first participation in the series.

Coach Yang Zhuliang said the World Series will be a good platform for Dhabitah to stamp her mark as one of the country’s rising star in the sport.

“It is only for the top six pairs in the world. Dhabitah partnered Wendy to finish seventh in the World Cup in Shanghai last year and they were the first reserves for the World Series,” said Zhuliang.

“We will likely bank on Dhabitah and Wendy to defend our SEA Games gold medal for the 3m springboard in Singapore, so I hope they take the opportunity to polish up their routines.”

The timing of the World Series could not have been better for the pint-sized Dhabitah, who stands at 153cm, as Kazan will also host the World Championships in July.  

Besides Pandelela, Cheong Jun Hoong will dive in the 10m platform synchro with Leong Mun Yee and the 3m springboard individual while Pandelela will participate in the 10m platform individual.

Malaysia have two medals to show after the first two rounds in Beijing and Dubai. Jun Hoong-Mun Yee delivered silver in Beijing and bronze in Dubai last month.

Young Guns Ready To Make A Big Splash At Singapore SEA Games

Sixteen-year-old Wong Fu Kang looks good for gold in Singapore after a sterling performance at the Malaysian Open recently.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia can look forward to having a pool party at the Singapore SEA Games in June.

Youngsters like Wong Fu Kang, Alwyn Tan, Welson Sim and Phee Jinq En look more than capable of producing a splashing performance – having won their respective events in the recently-concluded Malaysian Open and qualify on merit for the SEA Games.

The four, who are among 16 swimmers who got the nod for the SEA Games, chalked up personal bests that are even better than the gold-medal timings from the last SEA Games in Myanmar two years ago.

National coach Paul Birmingham is delighted that Malaysia will have better quality swimmers for the Games this time.

“We only had four qualifiers for the last SEA Games. Now, we have about 10 swimmers who have qualified on merit for the SEA Games as well as the World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in June.

“We’ll be able to field a good team for the freestyle relays as well,” said Birmingham, who picked out Fu Kang, Alwyn, Welson and Jinq En as the outstanding performers.

The lanky Fu Kang, who is only 16, set the pool alight on the first day of the Malaysian Open by posting a breathtaking 1:02.56 in the men’s 100m breaststroke to shatter former Olympian and Asian champion Elvin Chia’s 15-year-old national mark of 1:02.59.

Fu Kang, who went on to win the 50m and 200m breaststrokes as well, looks good for gold in Singapore, considering his personal best is better than the Myanmar SEA Games winning time of 1:03.06 set by Radomyos Matjiur of Thailand.      

Welson came agonisingly close to breaking Daniel Bego’s national record of 1:49.22 set in 2009 with a personal best of 1:49.67 in the men’s 200m freestyle.

He was in superb form in the 400m distance, clocking 3:53.93 (Kevin Yeap holds the national record of 3:53.26 while the SEA Games winning time is 3:45.89).

“Fu Kang did great in 100m breaststroke while Welson put up a world-class performance for a kid his size. He has just turned 18 and his 200m freestyle time is just one and a half seconds outside the Olympic A time. If he keeps it up, Welson can qualify for the Rio Olympics next year,” said Birmingham, who also praised Alwyn and Jinq En.

“Alwyn has been knocking on Foo Jian Beng’s national mark of 23.42 in the 50m freestyle for some time and I’m happy he did it heading to the SEA Games.

“Jinq En also showed plenty of promise and we now have another good breaststroke swimmer alongside Christina Loh, who will be defending her 100m and 200m titles in the SEA Games.

“It’s not just the SEA Games but we have recently submitted a blueprint for the 2018 and 2023 Asian Games where we want to win medals. These youngsters are our hopes.”

Alwyn posted 23.17 in the 50m freestyle (the Myanmar Games winning time is 23.12) while Jinq En’s personal best of 1:10.75 is not far off Christina’s gold medal mark of 1:10.55.

Teen Swimmer Sets New Malaysian Record For Men’s 50m Freestyle

Penang swimmer, Alwyn Tan set a new national record in the men's 50m freestyle at the Malaysian Open Swimming Championships held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil today.

Alwyn, 17, clocked 23.17 seconds in the heats to erase 23.42s set by Selangor's Foo Jian Beng in 2011, and earned a ticket to the Singapore SEA Games in June.

"I am really happy. 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," said Alwyn, who is not in the national squad but trained under the Penang Swimming Club.

He said 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 that is scheduled for August in Kazan, Russia.

The 26-year-old Perak born swimmer clocked 15 minutes 45.76s, en route to win a gold medal in the men's 1,500m freestyle and earned a ticket to his fifth SEA Games, which was better that 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 board 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, March 29, 2015.

Alwyn Sets New 50m Record

KUALA LUMPUR: Alwyn Tan Yean Yang was the star performer on the final day of the Malaysian Open swimming championships as he set a new national record in the men’s 50m freestyle.

The 17-year-old clocked 23.17 in the heat to erase Foo Jian Beng’s time of 23.42 set at the same meet in 2011.

Alwyn, however, was unable to improve his time in the final. He finished in 23.40 to win the gold.

Keith Lim Kit Sern clocked 23.74 to take the silver while Selangor’s Chan Jie finished third in 23.98.

“I came close to beating the national record three times. I am really glad to finally beat it,” said Alwyn from the Penang Swimming Club.

Alwyn was also elated that his time earned him a place in the Singapore SEA Games in June.

“I am hoping for at least a podium finish in June,” said Alwyn, who was also a silver medallist in the 100m freestyle.

Cai Lin Redeems Herself With 400m Freestyle Gold

KUALA LUMPUR: National swimmer Khoo Cai Lin (pic) showed her class by winning the women’s 400m freestyle at the Malaysian Open swimming championships.

The 26-year-old clocked 4:18.51, way ahead of second-placed Hong Kong’s Sze Hang Yu’s time of 4:25.15 at the Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre.

Angela Chieng Chui Fei of Sarawak took the bronze in 4:29.13.

For Cai Lin, it was a sweet victory as she was beaten to the gold by Hang Yu in the 200m freestyle on Friday.

“I am satisfied with my performance today as I was able to improve my time,” said Cai Lin.

It was her third medal in the championships, having won the 400m individual medley gold on Thursday.

Cai Lin will be looking to add one more medal to her collection today when she competes in the 800m freestyle.

Splashing Welson With A New Record In The Pool

Welson Sim (centre) reacts after winning the men's 200m freestyle with a new meet record at the Malaysian Open. - IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Welson Sim Wee Sheng was the star performer on the second day of the Malaysian Open swimming championships with a new meet record in the men’s 200m freestyle.

The 18-year-old Sarawakian clocked a personal best time of 1:49.67 at the Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre to erase fellow national swimmer Lim Ching Hwang’s time of 1:50.62 set last year.

Kevin Yeap Soon Choy of Perak clocked 1:52.59 to take the silver while Sarawak’s Vernon Lee grabbed the bronze with a time of 1:52.62.

“I trained hard for this event and was expecting to beat the national record. I swam well and I’m quite pleased with my efforts,” said Welson, the winner of the 100m freestyle on Thursday.

Welson will also attempt to win his third gold in the 400m freestyle event.

Record Breaker Fu Kang Going Places

KUALA LUMPUR: Wong Fu Kang stole the limelight on the opening day of the Malaysian Open swimming championships by smashing Elvin Chia’s 15-year-old national record in the men’s 100m breaststroke.

The 17-year-old Johor swimmer clocked 1:02.56 at the Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre to beat Elvin’s mark of 1:02.59 set in 2000.

Hong Kong’s Kwok Ka Fai picked up the silver with a time of 1:03.87 while Selangor’s Daniel Lim clocked 1:03.92 to take the bronze.

“It’s an unbelievable feat ...  it still hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Fu Kang.

“I have been training very hard for the past four months but I didn’t expect to break the national record,” he added.

Fu Kang’s efforts earned him a ticket to the Singapore SEA Games in June and the World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in July.

He attributed his success to the training programme at the British International School in Phuket, Thailand, where he has been studying for the past six months.

“The training there is more organised and I have benefited from it,” said Fu Kang.

Fu Kang is now all fired up to increase his gold tally. He will compete in the 50m breaststroke and 200m individual medley.