Welson targets longstanding 1,500m mark at KL Games

PETALING JAYA: The movitation to bring down swimmer Jeffrey Ong’s long-standing 1,500m freestyle national record is what drives Welson Sim to rise to the occasion at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games from Aug 19-30.

Welson, who is the only swimmer in the Podium Programme, is a serious contender to sweep the 200m and 400m freestyle gold medals for Malaysia.

He has the fastest time in the 200m and 400m freestyles his year going into the SEA Games.

But a harder challenge awaits him in the 1,500m freestyle, where he needs to mentally psyche himself up for the gruelling training process.

Jeffrey clocked 15:23.61 when he took silver in the 1,500m freestyle in the World Games in Sheffield, United Kingdom in 1991. And the record still stands.

Welson admitted that his desire to break the record is the reason why he included the 1,500m freestyle in his SEA Games programme although the training is different compared to the shorter events.

Welson clocked a personal best of 15:31.10 in the 1,500m freestyle at the Singapore national age-group meet in March.

If Welson can win all three gold medals – 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle – he will become the first Malaysian swimmer to achieve the feat in SEA Games history.

“That’s one of my targets this year. I hope I can do it at the SEA Games. Swimming at home and in front of my friends and fans will give me the extra push to do my best.

“I have not done intensive training in the 1,500m freestyle, but the volume will increase after we return from the Mare Nostrum series next month,” said the 20-year-old Sarawakian, who took gold in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 200m distance at the last SEA Games in Singapore two years ago.

The Mare Nostrum series comprises swimming meets in Monaco (June 10-11), Spain (June 13-14) and France (June 17-18).