Hoe Yean powers his way to top spot in 800m heat

PETALING JAYA: National swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean (pic) produced an impressive performance to top the men’s 800m heat at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow yesterday.

Although he fell short of breaking his own national record, the 23-year-old did well to clock 8:04.47s at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre to finish comfortably ahead of Singapore’s Russel Pang with 8:13.47s.

Jersey’s Samuel Sterry finished third with a time of 8:29.65s.

Off the mark, Hoe Yean settled into second place behind Russel, but turned on the jets in the final 300m surge into the lead and took the first spot by nine seconds.

Hoe Yean’s time was just shy of the current national record of 8:01.30s, which he set at the Australian Championships two years ago.

However, he has to wait for his final placing in 800m as those from other heats have yet to complete their race.

Hoe Yean will have a day’s rest before he returns to the water for the 1500m event tomorrow.

He also holds the national record of 15:21.92s in the event.

On Sunday, Hoe Yean came close to breaking another national record when he, Arvin Shaun Singh, Ananda Lim Yin Chuen, and Jayden Tan finished fifth in the 4x200m freestyle relay event with a time of 7:23.72s.

It was another valiant effort as they were just a few seconds off the national record of 7:19.50s set at the Bangkok SEA Games last year by Hoe Yean, Arvin, Ananda, and the now-retired Terence Ng.