Debutant smashes 20-year record in men's 200m breaststroke

KUCHING: Selangor swimmer Daniel Lim Jun Liang showcased a splendid performance after smashing the 20-year-old record in the men's 200m breaststroke in the 18th Sukma Games at the Sarawak Aquatics Centre here today.

The 20-year-old Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh student, who is making his debut in the Sukma Games, clocked 2 minutes 19.12 seconds to erase the previous record of 2:19.17s set by Elvin Chia at the 1996 Pahang Sukma Games.

Lim then anchored the Selangor relay team consisting of Yeap Zheng Yang, Tan Yun Hung and Jordan Yip Zhu Ern to smash the Sukma record in the 4x200m freestyle event after the quartet clocked 7 minutes 43.67 seconds.

The previous record was held by the Sarawak relay team which clocked 7 minutes 47.31 seconds at the 2014 Perlis Sukma Games.
Speaking after the medal presentation ceremony, Lim who is of Scottish-Chinese parentage, said that he was truly delighted with his performance despite making his debut in the annual games.

He also won a gold in the 4x100m freestyle, a silver and also the bronze medal in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

"I am extremely pleased with my performance as I have never claimed three gold medals in any tournament before, so it's a great experience for me. I came here without setting any target but I'm glad to help the Selangor team to win the medal.

"After this, I will take a break from swimming for one or two months before returning to Edinburgh, Scotland to continue my studies and we'll see what happens next," Lim said.

Earlier, his teammate, Chan Jie rewrote his own personal record in the men's 100m butterfly after clocking 54.80 seconds, breaking the previous record of 55.04 seconds he set in 2014 in Perlis.

The host's swimmer Angela Chieng Chui Feng also showcased a splashing performance after adding two more personal gold medals by winning the women's 400m freestyle before helping the state team to win the 4x200m freestyle relay event.

Prior to this, she won the gold in the 200m butterfly, 800m freestyle, 400m freestyle and also the individual medley.

As for the overall swimming medal tally, Selangor reigned at the top with 16 gold, 12 silver and eight bronze medals followed by Sarawak (6-3-2) and Federal Territories (4-12-6). — Bernama