KUALA LUMPUR – National swimmer Phee Jinq En still is not satisfied with her performance even after her gold medal win in the 100 metre (m) women’s breaststroke at the 2023 Malaysian Open Swimming Championship that began today.
The 25-year-old representing the Selangor Amateur Swimming Association won first place with a time of 1 minute 10.06 seconds (s), beating second-placed Taiwanese swimmer Chieh Yu Hung (1:10.39s), and fellow national swimmer Tan Rou Xin of Johor Amateur Swimming Association (1:12.26) at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
Jing En, who has already qualified under Category A for the Cambodia Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May, expressed her concern that there are not many competitive championships she could join to test her capabilities.
“I think everything is working very well compared to last year…I went slower. Now I am working harder and gaining confidence, so it’s good progress.
“Even though I am happy to win today, I have mixed feelings, as I’m worried about the Cambodia SEA Games, which are only two months away. But there are not many championships I can take part in.
“Maybe this is the only one for me before going straight to the Games,” she told reporters here today.
Meanwhile, 2022 Malaysia Games (Sukma) triple gold medallist Jayden Tan won the 400m men’s freestyle, with a time of 3:56.92s, ahead of Syrian Omar Abbas (4:00.60s) and Taiwanese Guo Ting Huang (4.01.83s).
Unfortunately, his first place finish was not enough for Jayden to qualify for the World Swimming Championship in Fukuoka in Japan this July or the Cambodia SEA Games, as his recorded time was above the qualifying time set for both championships.
“I really want to go to the SEA Games in Category A, but I failed today by a difference of a few seconds.
“I hope to book the slot in the 200 men’s individual medley this Monday,” he said. – Bernama, March 11, 2023
