SHAH ALAM, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Young Selangor swimmer Chong Yuan Yi has set her sights on being part of the 2027 SEA Games squad following winning two gold medals at the 2026 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) here today.
The 17-year-old set a new personal best time of 4 minutes 29.70 seconds (s) to win the women’s 400 metre (m) freestyle, beating Sarawakian Kelly Yao Teo (4:33.52 s) and Tan Rui Nee of Penang (4:34.06 s) at the Darul Ehsan Aquatic Centre here today for her first gold of the day.
“This means a lot to me and the team. I’m very happy to win another gold in my first SUKMA. I was very nervous before the race as I pressured myself as the team was hoping I would win the gold.
“In the long term, obviously I want to contest at the Olympics one day. But for next year I hope to be selected for the SEA Games team as it would mean a lot to be if I could win a medal for Malaysia at home,” she told reporters here today.
Yuan Yi then helped her team of Selangor swimmers Shannon Tan, Eliza Tan and Yoong Jia Jia to win the women’s 4x200 m freestyle relay with a new Games record time of 8:36.12s, smashing the previous time of 8:40.95 s set by Sarawak at the 2012 SUKMA in Pahang.
Penang took the silver with a time of 8:46.90 s and Sarawak the bronze with a time of 8:49.80 s.
-- BERNAMA