Perak’s Kevin Yeap shows off his gold medal after winning the 1,500 freestyle in record time yesterday.
KEVIN Yeap of Perak fulfilled his promise of breaking the Malaysia Games record in his pet event, the 1,500 freestyle, on a day when Chan Kah Yan of the Federal Territories became the darling of the pool by grabbing seven gold medals as the swimming competition came to a close at Hang Jebat Sports Complex Aquatic Centre yesterday.
Kevin was way ahead of the field as he recorded 15:59.08s to better his own Games record of 16:07.71 which he set in Terengganu in 2008.
Vernon Lee of Sarawak was almost 30 metres behind as he registered 16:27.82 while Yip Kin Seng of Selangor was third with 16:54.17.
Kevin was satisfied as he not only set a new record but also completed the 400m-1,500m freestyle double in three consecutive Games.
His next aim is to smash the 19-year-old national record of 15:23.61, the longest standing swimming record, set by Jeffrey Ong.
"I swam an excellent race and am happy to have set a new record. Although I'm still far from the national record, I have been consistently clocking below 16 minutes and I'm happy," said Kevin.
"Jeffrey is still our best in the 1,500m and I still have a long way to go before I can hope for the record.
"But I want to do it in the next two to three years."
Kah Yan continued her splendid form as she captured the women's 100m backstroke and helped FT to win the 4x100m medley to bring her tally to seven gold and two silver medals.
Kah Yan clocked 1:05.83, Loo Hei Di of Selangor (1:08.30) was second and Perak's Chang Karmen (1:09.31) third.
In the 4x100m freestyle, Kah Yan, Christina Loh, Chong Siew Mun and Tania Lee clocked 4:25.82 to break the Games record of 4:27.12 set by Sabah in 2008.
Sabah were second with 4:27.57 Sarawak third with 4:36.79.
It was a total reversal in Kah Yan's fortunes after winning just one gold and six silver medals in Terengganu two years ago.
"I was just aiming to improve on my personal best here and winning seven gold medals is definitely a big surprise.
"It is a complete turnaround from what I achieved in Terengganu," said the 18-year-old Kah Yan.
"My hard work for a year paid off and I will continue competing in multiple events in future.
"I hope to win the Best Female Athlete award in these Games to complete a superb outing for me."
Ian James Bar of FT won his third gold when he captured the men's 100m backstroke with a time of 59.55 and was also part of the 4x100m medley who eclipsed another Games record.
Ian, Melvin Chua, Kevin Lim and Joshua Lee registered 3:58.75 to beat the mark of 3:58.77 set by Sarawak in 2008.
Selangor won the silver with 4:00.36 and Sarawak clinched bronze with 4:04.29.
Foo Jian Beng of Selangor also secured his third goal by winning the men's 50m freestyle in 23.68 while Sabah's Chui Lai Kwan won the women's 50m freestyle in 26.56.
FT were the runaway winners in the overall tally as they collected 17 gold, 12 silver and seven bronze while Sabah were second with eight gold, five silver and nine bronze medals.
FT's Muhammad Fakhrul Khairuddin won the men's diving 3-metre springboard gold with 403.90 points as Ahmad Amsyar Azman of Perlis took silver (366.05) and Ooi Tze Liang of Penang bagged the bronze (358.10).
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