PETALING JAYA: Malaysian swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean brought 2022 to a good close by bagging two bronze medals in the Queensland McDonalds Swimming Championships in Australia.
The 20-year-old picked up his first medal in the men’s 400m freestyle on Monday, clocking 3:49.61 for third spot behind Samuel Short of Australia (3:46.63).
Reigning world champion Elijah Winnington of Australia won in 3:45.84.
Hoe Yean made the main final as the third fastest qualifier with 3:53.44.
He went on to bag his second bronze medal when he placed third in the men’s 1,500m freestyle with 15:27.52 behind Australians Matt Galea (15:22.94) and Winnington (15:19.87).
The Kuala Lumpur swimmer brought his Australian outing to a satisfying close by improving on his national record in the 800m freestyle final yesterday.
He missed out on a medal in finishing fourth but managed to clock 8:05.38 to erase his previous best of 8:06.00 set at the Malaysian Open last year.
“That was a nice end to my 2022 swimming campaign. I earned two bronze medals against the best Australians and I also got two personal best marks.
“Besides the 800m freestyle, I swam my fastest time in the 1,500m freestyle.
“It’s been a good year as I managed to break national records and also win my first SEA Games gold medal in Vietnam (in May),” said Hoe Yean, whose plan in 2023 is to continue to improve in his pet freestyle races and qualify on merit for the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
And that also means Hoe Yean has his eyes set on breaking Welson Sim’s national 200m freestyle record of 1:47.36 that has stood for five years.
Arvin Shaun finished fifth with a personal best time of 2:05.12 in the 200m individual medley final.
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