No pain, no gain for Jamery as he wins 50m butterfly gold

PARA swimmer Jamery Siga started the day in pain. But he was all smiles at the end of the day.

The 32-year-old made it a day of triple joy for Malaysia by winning the men’s 50m butterfly S5 (moderate level of impairment to arms and legs) event in the Asean Para Games swimming competition at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Jamery’s right shoulder acted up again just as he was lining up on the starting blocks for the 200m freestyle — the first final scheduled for the day. He did not get the start he wanted and failed to retain his 200m freestyle title.

He clocked 3:12.45 to settle for the silver behind Vietnam’s 2016 Paralympic silver medallist Vo Thanh Tung (2:59.17).

The Vietnamese broke the previous record of 3:00.00 set by Myanmar’s Aung Myint Myat.

Jamery, however, made a superb comeback later in the day to win Malaysia’s third gold of the day in the 50m butterfly in 40.16.

Myanmar’s Maung Maung So took the silver in 49.11 while Malaysian Muhd Nur Syaiful (55.91) settled for the bronze.

Yoong Chun Wei had earlier delivered gold No. 2 for Malaysia when he retained the men’s 50m butterfly S14 (visually impaired) title in 30.01.

Indonesian Daniel Nugroho (30.18) and Thailand’s Mongkolchai Chanwit (31.01) took the silver and bronze.

Anas Zul Amirul Sidi splashed to the first gold for Malaysia by winning the men’s 100m freestyle (S14) race in a new Games record of 59.79.

“I didn’t feel good when I climbed up to the starting blocks because I felt some pain on my shoulder. It affected my start for the 200m freestyle.

“I tried my best to catch up but my rival from Vietnam was just too strong,” said Jamery.

“The 50m butterfly was a short sprint race and I went all out as I did not want to end up empty-handed.

“Before I swam the 50m butterfly, we already had two golds in hand. So I wanted to contribute the third gold.

“I’m happy to have retained the gold I won at the last Asean Para Games in Singapore two years ago,” added the Sarawakian.

Sarawak’s Julius Jaranding bagged his second silver when he posted 1:07.68 in the men’s 100m freestyle S12 (intellectual disability) event. He had also bagged a silver in the 50m breaststroke on Monday.