Kevin Seconds Away From Second Olympic Invite

KUALA LUMPUR: Swimmer Kevin Yeap Soon Choy came so close to snatching a second Olympic invitational time for himself en route to becoming the first local male winner in the Malaysian Open at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The Indonesia SEA Games gold medallist splashed his way to the men’s 400m freestyle gold with a career best time of 3:54.55, which was just outside the Olympic invitational time of 3:54.13.

Vernon Lee of Sarawak took the silver with 4:00.15 while Sri Lankan Abeysinghe Matthew, who was fastest in the heats earlier, settled for bronze with 4:04.10.

Vernon Lee & Kevin Yeap

Kevin may have missed out on the Olympic qualifying standard but it was still a new Malaysian Open record as he improved on his own winning time of 3:58.56 last year.

Kevin had mixed feelings about his campaign to secure a second Olympic invitational time following his success in earning the first in the 1,500m freestyle at the Singapore national age-group meet in March this year.

“I gave my all to try to go under the Olympic time but it was still not enough.

“I was pushing hard from the start as I know I am not so strong in the last 300m.

“I’m still happy it’s a new record. I have another chance in the South-East Asian Championships in Singapore next month,” said the Perak-born swimmer, who is eyeing a double when he swims the 1,500m freestyle today.

Other local winners on the third day of competition were Siow Yi Ting and Marellyn Liew who came out tops in their respective pet events.

Yi Ting romped to her first gold medal of the meet by taking the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:34.18.

The Negri Sembilan swimmer, who swam for the country at the last Olympics in Beijing, erased the previous Malaysian Open record of 2:34.95 set by Rainbow Ip of Hong Kong last year.

Former national swimmer Marellyn clocked 28.33 to clinch the women’s 50m butterfly gold medal ahead of Selangor’s Yap Siew Hui (28.55) and Winsnes Annika of Selangor (28.66).

Results
Men
50m butterfly: 1. Glenn Victor Sutanto (Ina) 24.58, 2. Afshin Askari (Iri) and Fauzi Triady (Ina) 25.09.
100m backstroke: 1. Gede Sudartawa (Ina) 56.41, 2. Unamboowe Heshan (Srl) 57.47, 3. Ian James Barr (Kul) 58.02.
200m breaststroke: 1. Sejwal Sandeep (Ind) 2:16.16 meet rec, 2. Yap See Tuan (Pah) 2:17.56, 3. Dasuki Idham (Ina) 2:18.60.
400m freestyle: 1. Kevin Yeap Soon Choy (Prk) 3:54.44 meet rec, 2. Vernon Lee (Swk) 4:00.15, 3. Abeysinghe Matthew (Srl) 4:04.10.
4x100m freestyle relay: 1. Indonesia 3:30.89, 2. Iran 3:34.38, 3. Selangor 3:35.43.

Women
50m butterfly: 1. Marellyn Liew (Sab) 28.33, 2. Yap Siew Hui (Sel) 28.55, 3. Winsnes Annika (Sel) 28.66.
100m backstroke: 1. Jasmine Tong (Aus) 1:05.63, 2. Yessy Yosaputra (Ina) 1:06.60, 3. Pansare Jyotsna (Ind) 1:08.26.
200m breaststroke: 1. Siow Yi Ting (Nse) 2:34.18 meet rec, 2. Samantha Yeo (Sin) 2:36.52, 3. Christina Loh (Kul) 2:38.52.
400m freestyle: 1. Sze Hang Yu (Hkg) 4:20.23, 2. Khoo Cai Lin (Sel) 4:20.55, 3. Grahana Raina Saumi (Ina) 4:22.32.
4x100m freestyle relay: 1. Indonesia 3:59.49, 2. Selangor 4:03.22, 3. Australia 4:12.26.