M'sia bags two gold, one bronze medals from Aquatic Centre

Two national elite swimmers, Daniel Bego and Khoo Cai Lin bagged two gold and one bronze medals for Malaysia on the third day of Myanmar SEA Games swimming events at Wunna Theikdi Aquatic Centre here, Saturday.

Bego, who emerged as best swimmer at the morning's preliminary round of the men's 400m freestyle race grabbed the gold medal by clocking 3 minutes 54:89s.

Another Malaysian swimmer, Kevin Yeap, only managed to complete the race at fifth place by clocking 4:00.75s.

Hoang Quy Phuoc of Vietnam won the silver medal in 3:57:73s, while Kittiya Tanakrit of Thailand settled with the bronze medal in 3:59:00s.

Bego, who also swam in the men's 4x100m freestyle event with Welson Sim, Lim Ching Hwang and Vernon Lee Jeau Zhi, however, only managed to win the bronze medal by clocking 3:26:98s.

The race was won by Singaporean quartet with a new Games record of 3:21:74s, while the Indonesian quartet took the silver with 3:25:54s.

Speaking to reporters after receiving the medals from president of Olympic Council of Malaysia, Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar, Bego said he was proud with his performance on Saturday, especially after failing to shine in several events earlier.

"I hope I can win more gold medals after this, especially in my favourite long-distance events. For me, this year's competition is quite tough compared to the previous games," said the Sarawak-born swimmer.

Meanwhile, Cai Lin also bounced back from several disappointments and managed to defend her gold medal in her favourite women's 800m freestyle event.

She clocked 8 minutes 49:51s to take the gold, leaving Sriphanomthorn Benjaporn of Thailand only 10 seconds behind to settle with the silver.

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien of Vietnam swam third in 8:52:27s.

"I don't expect to receive such a tough competition from the Thai swimmer who also performed well in the 200m and 400m freestyle events.

"This is not my best performance, but I'm satisfied because at least I have contributed a gold medal for the country," she said.