Swimming: Kevin Targets Two Gold Medals At Melaka Sukma

By Farhanah Azmi

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 (Bernama) -- Although he did not break any new records at the 53rd Malaysian Open Swimming Championship which started Thursday, Kevin Lim wants to strive for excellence at the upcoming Malaysian Games (Sukma).

Kevin, 18, has set a two-gold medal target at the Melaka Sukma which will be held from June 10 to 19.

At the opening of the Malaysian Open Swimming Championship Thursday, Kevin bagged the gold medal in his favourite event, the 200m butterfly, clocking two minutes 6.13 seconds, just 0.71 seconds ahead of Singapore's Rainer Ng.

The bronze medal was won by Cheng Ka Chun of Hong Kong after clocking 2:09.15s.

"Actually my performance was not too bad. I did expect to win it and I did it. At this meet, I did not target to break the record in this event but my focus is the Melaka Sukma.

"At the last Sukma in Terengganu, I won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly event. This time, my target for this coming Sukma is to win two gold medals...one in 200m butterfly and the other in the 200m freestyle," said Kevin.

He first represented the Federal Territory contingent in 2006 at the Kedah Sukma, where he bagged the bronze medal in the 1,500m freestyle event.

Kevin has been named by the international swimming governing body, FINA, as Malaysia's representative in the 200m and 400m freestyle events at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, scheduled for Aug 14 to 26.

Besides him, Malaysia's other representatives in aquatics for the Youth Olympics are swimmer Lai Wei Li and divers Pandelela Rinong and Ooi Tzer Liang.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Shana Lim of Singapore was the sole record breaker for the day.

She clocked 29.72 seconds in the women's 50m backstroke to erase Sabahan Chui Lai Kwans's record of 30.77s set in 2008.

However, Lai Kwan on Thursday settled for the bronze with 31.12s while Vivian Lai of Hong Kong clinched the silver medal with 31.09s.

Earlier, even though she did not match her own national record, Lai Kwan claimed the gold medal in the women's 100m freestyle event by clocking 58.27s. Her national record is 57.59s.

The other Malaysian national swimmers who won gold on the first day of competition were Foo Jia Beng of Selangor (men's 100m freestyle) and Yap See Tuan of Pahang (men's 100m breaststroke).