KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Wilayah Persekutuan swimmer Bryan Leong was in superb form when he broke the 13-year-old national record for men’s 100 metre (m) butterfly in 53.32 seconds at the 20th Malaysia Games here today.
The feat by the 19-year-old athlete at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil erased the old record of of 53.33s set by former national swimmer, Daniel Bego at the World Championship in Rome, Italy in 2009.
Bryan admitted he did not expect to rewrite his idol’s record but was happy to present Wilayah Persekutan four gold medals in the championship.
“I just can’t believe and didn’t really expect to break the national record especially when it is such an outstanding record by Daniel since 2009, it is really exciting and I am happy to be able to break the record today.
“It is just a 0.01s difference so it is good as I also did my personal best as well as national record. In Hanoi I also broke national record in 50m freestyle with just 0.01s maybe it a blessing in disguise so it still means a lot to me,” he said when met by reporters here today.
The silver medal of the event was won by Selangor swimmer Ng Tze Xiang in 54.72s and Leow Zheng Yong of Melaka who recorded 55.82s had to settle for the bronze.
Earlier, Bryan collected three golds from the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and 4x100m freestyle relay events.
He will be competing in two more events tomorrow, namely the 50m freestyle and the 4x100m individual medley.
“After Sukma I will return to continue studying in England at the same time continue training because next year there are many tournaments such as the World Championship, Asean Games but I need to try to qualify for the time to represent Malaysia,” he said. — Bernama
