HANOI: The Malaysian swimming team lost a silver medal in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay event, after the team, together with Singapore, were disqualified for false starts at the Aquatic Sports Palace here, tonight.
Based on the initial results shown on the scoreboard, Singapore, powered by former Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, Mikkel Lee, Quah Zheng Wen and Jonathan Tan finished first with a time of three minutes and 17.19 seconds.
Malaysia, represented by Welson Sim, Lim Yin Chuen, Khiew Hoe Yean and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal, came in second with a time of 3:20.13 s, faster than the national record of 3:21.06s set in the 2018 Asian Games, followed by Vietnam (3:21.81s).
The disqualification of Singapore and Malaysia saw Vietnam being awarded the gold, while Indonesia (3:24.090s) and Thailand (3:24.280s) took the silver and bronze respectively.
National coach Chris Martin said based on his check with the Omega timing system, one of the swimmers plunged 0.12 s earlier into the pool.
“We are very disappointed because it was very outstanding relay, a national record time by lot, but this is what happens, we were overexcited. I told them that missing this medal should make them more determined to step up in the individual events and show that you’re capable,” he told reporters after the disqualification was announced.-Bernama
