Swimmer Welson in good stead ahead of CWG

Welson Sim bagged three golds in the SEA Championships. - filepic

PETALING JAYA: Glasgow Commonwealth Games-bound swimmer Welson Sim was the standout performer for Malaysia as he smashed two long-standing records en route to bagging three golds in the just-concluded South-East Asia (SEA) age-group championships in Singapore. 

Sarawak-born Welson, competing in the boys’ 16-18 age-group, powered his way to a superb win in the 400m freestyle on the opening day of competition on Friday.

 He clocked 4:00.45 to erase the previous record of 4:01.49 set by former SEA Games gold medallist Torlap Sethsorthorn of Thailand in 1996. 

Welson then continued with his winning ways the following day, winning the 200m freestyle in 1:52.62 to shatter the meet record of 1:53.75.

Welson went on to extend his dominance in the 1,500m freestyle, winning the gruelling race in 15:57.51 to break Torlap’s 19-year-old record of 16:18.18. 

Asian Youth Games gold medallist Lim Ching Hwang was also in good form and was the other Malaysian to set a new record.

Ching Hwang, who won the 200m freestyle gold at last year’s Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, raced to a new mark of 51.10 to win the boys’ 100m freestyle gold in the 16-18 age-group. 

Despite the duo’s good show, Malaysia only managed to end the championship with a 12-15-10 haul to finish fourth overall. 

Hosts Singapore walked home with a 44-31-25 medals haul and emerged overall champions followed by Vietnam (19-13-19) and Thailand (16-18-28).