Wel within his reach
Sim aims to qualify for 400m freestyle final in windy conditions
ALL eyes will be on Welson Sim when the swimming competition starts at the Optus Aquatic Centre today.
Can he overcome the windy condition at the pool?
The 21-year-old has certainly come a long way to be Malaysia’s best freestyle specialist, earning his stripes when he qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics on merit.
He then topped that when he defeated Australia’s Olympic champion Mack Horton to win the gold in the 400m event at the Mare Nostrum Tour in Monte Carlo, Monaco, last year.
His time of 3:49.48 then was his new personal best and also a new national record.
Now, it’s time for the Sarawakian to show that he has got more in his tank by making the final of the 400m event today.
No Malaysian swimmer has ever qualified for a final at the Commonwealth Games since Alex Lim Keng Liat won a silver (50m backstroke) and bronze (100m backstroke) at the 2002 Manchester Games.
And national coach Paul Birmingham is optimistic that Welson is in good shape to meet expectations.
“We are taking one day at a time and the focus now is for Welson to make the 400m final,” said Birmingham.
“He needs to clock around 3:50 to make the final. He has done that twice at the Western Australian Open and the pre-Asian Games event this year.
"But I am hoping that the conditions would be better.
“It’s been windy so far and that’s been difficult for all swimmers as winds creates resistance in the pool.”
Welson has been in a positive mood and he is in good condition and is eager to go.
Birmingham however played down Welson’s chances of making the final in the 200m event.
“The 200m event is held the next day.
“The advantage will be on those who did not swim the 400m earlier,” said Birmingham.
Welson is also down to compete in the 100m and the 1,500m events but those are not his specialty.
Besides Welson, the other Malaysian swimmers in action on the first day are Chan Jie, Keith Lim Kit Sern (men’s 50m butterfly), Tern Jian Han (men’s 100m backstroke) and para-swimmer Jin Ping Ting (S14 200m freestyle).