James eyes C’wealth podium after smashing performances

JAMES Wong (pic) may onlyy have an arm but nothing is imppossible for him.

The 23-year-old now hopees to make history as Malaysia’s first para swimmer to stand on the podium at the Commonwealth Games inn Gold Coast, Australia, next April.

James, who was born with part of his left arm missing, enjoyed a smashing campaign at the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games as one of the seven individual winners for Malaysia in the pool.

James erased a 12-year-old record on his way to winning the men’s S8 100m butterfly in 1:12.94 on Wednesday. The previous record of 1:30.23 was held by fellow Malaysian D. Kulek back in 2005 in Manila.

He also secured a silver in the 200m individual medley and a bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

James, who is studying and working as a part-time coach in Adelaide, Australia, said he wanted to con- tribute to Malaysia’s gold-medal count to justify the faith of those who believed in him.

“A complete set of medals. I want to dedicate this to those whho continued to believe in me allthough I failed to qualify for the PaParalympics in Rio last year. “After Rio, there was a moment where I even stopped believing in myself,” said James, who went to Australia in 2011 to give himself a shot at becoming a champion swimmer.

“After this, I will try to qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year. My latest time in the 100m breaststroke (1:24.24) ranks fourth fastest in the Commonwealth rankings.

“The top eight from Oct 31 last year to Oct 31 this year will automatically qualify for the Commonwealth Games,” said James, whose long term goal is to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.