KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — National swimmer Bryan Leong has set a new national record in the men’s 50-metre (m) butterfly event at the World University Games (Universiade) 2023 in Chengdu, China, today.
According to the tournament website, he clocked 24.35 seconds (s) in the first semi-finals at the Dong’an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Centre to erase the 14-year-old mark of 24.38s set by Daniel Bego at the World Championships in Rome, Italy, in 2009.
However, Leong failed to make it to the final after finishing seventh out of eight swimmers.
Last month, he improved on his national record in the men’s 100m butterfly event by clocking 52.96s at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan to eclipse his own record for the second time this year.
In May, Leong recorded 53.02s in the 100m butterfly event at the 2023 AP Race London to erase his old mark of 53.32s set at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) last year.
In London, he also set a new record in the 50m freestyle when he clocked 23.07s to erase his old mark of 23.09s set at the Hanoi SEA Games in Vietnam last year.
Meanwhile, the national badminton squad look set to contribute a medal to the national contingent in Chengdu after they qualified for the semi-finals of the mixed team event by downing Hong Kong 3 – 1 in the last eight.
The national shuttlers will face Taiwan in tomorrow’s semi-finals, with the bronze medal already in hand to add to Malaysia’s medal haul of one gold and three bronzes thus far.
The World University Games, which began on July 28, will end on August 8.
— Bernama
