Welson breaks Bego’s long-standing 100m freestyle record

KUALA LUMPUR: Welson Sim (pic) struck an item off his bucket list when he broke Daniel Bego’s long-standing national record in the 100m freestyle recently.

Welson clocked 50.03 en route to winning gold at the Asean University Games in Myanmar last month to erase the previous mark of 50.16 set by Daniel at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.

It was the third national record held by Daniel that Welson has broken in the last four years since he burst into prominence by winning gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

But Welson said he would remain focused in the middle and longer distance events – 200m and 400m freestyle this year.

“Breaking Daniel’s 100m national record was something that I always wanted to do in the last two years,” said the Sarawak-born.

“I came close on a few occasions, so I’m glad to finally pull it off although I did not expect it at this time of the year.

“But I will not focus in this event as I’m more of a middle distance swimmer.

“I am still aiming to improve on my 200m and 400m personal bests this year,” added Welson, who is a national record holder for the 200m (1:47.36) and 400m (3:49.48) freestyle events.

Welson’s main focus this year is to earn another appearance at the Olympic Games after making his debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 in the 200m and 400m freestyle.

“I want to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics under category A again,” he said.

“I aim to qualify either at the World Aquatics Championships in South Korea (July) or the Philippines SEA Games (December),” said Welson.

He is hoping the swimming squad will get the services of a new coach soon.

“I hope we will get a new coach soon as we need time to adjust to a new training programme,” added Welson.

Training is now handled by Jeffrey Ho following the departure of Australian coach Paul Birmingham after the Asian Games in Indonesia last August.