Welson breaks national record in 800m freestyle
Sim may have yet to win an Asian Games medal but the swimmer had a fulfilling outing yesterday by breaking his own national record in the 800m freestyle event at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta.
The Sarawak-born clocked 8:12.46s to surpass his threeyear-old record by 0.28 seconds to finish eighth in the final.
China’s Sun Yang won the gold in 7:48.36, followed by Japan’s Shogo Takeda (7:53.01) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Huy Hoang (7:54.32).
The 21-year-old Welson will have a chance to end Malaysia’s 16-year medal drought in swimming when he competes in the 400m freestyle today.
National coach Paul Birmingham believes Welson can win a medal if he can break his national record of 3:49.48.
His season’s best for the event is 3:49.65 and is ranked fourth among the swimmers registered for today’s morning heats.