Sim ready to stand on his own after leaving national team

PETALING JAYA: Two-time Olympian Welson Sim (pic) has quit the national swimming team but intends to splash his way to success as an independent athlete.

The 24-year-old from Sarawak dropped a bombshell when he tendered his resignation to Malaysia Swimming (MS) on Feb 7.

Welson has been the leading swimmer in the country for many years and is a three-time SEA Games gold medallist but has been overshadowed by the rise of 19-year-old Kuala Lumpur teenager Khiew Hoe Yean in the last few months.

It is nevertheless a big decision by Welson especially with the Vietnam SEA Games just over the horizon, scheduled from May 12-23.

He is one of the four SEA Games medallists retained in the national training programme together with Philippines SEA Games double gold medallists Phee Jinq En, Hoe Yean and Arvin Singh Chalah.

It is believed Welson left the team as he did not see eye to eye with national coach Chris Martin, who is from the United States.

But MS secretary Mae Chen said Welson wanted to try out a different approach to raise his level once again.

“Welson submitted his letter of resignation to the National Sports Council and us on Feb 7 and he is no longer with the national team,” said Mae.

“We had a very long talk with him before the Chinese New Year break about the pros and cons of leaving the national team but he stuck to his decision. We can only respect his wishes.

“Right now we are not sure what his exact plans are except that he wants to pursue a different programme in order get himself back to the level that he was once at. He will, however, still stay and train in Malaysia under his own plan and programme,” said Mae.

Mae does not think Welson’s decision to leave will disrupt their preparation for the SEA Games.

“It has been made clear that whoever meets the qualifying mark will get to compete in the SEA Games,” said Mae.

“The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) have given a pretty lenient qualifying standard due to the lack of competitions over the last three years and as of now, Welson should still qualify, at least under the B time, but he will definitely need to fund his own expenses.”

MS are expected to decide on the final selection for the SEA Games after the Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil from March 4-6.

Welson confirmed that he was standing on his own but did not indicate where his training base would be.

“I’ve left the national team but I will still be around. I plan to continue to swim competitively,” said Welson.

“I’ll continue to train as I have the Malaysian Open next month,” said Welson, who previously went for training stints in Melbourne before the Covid-19 pandemic put an end to the arrangement.

Welson splashed to two gold medals in his pet 200m and 400m freestyle events at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games but failed to reproduce the same form in the Philippines two years later, settling for silver in both events.