KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is now just four gold medals shy of their 10-medal target after Carmen Lim contributed the sole gold on day four of the para swimming competitions at the Asean Para Games at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
Carmen bettered her old record of 39.14s, set at the 2015 Singapore Asean Para Games, in the women’s 50m freestyle S8 category when she clocked a time of 36.48s.
In the same category, Thailand’s Chaisawas (39.56s) and Nor Aimah of Indonesia (41.28s) came in second and third, respectively.
The aspiring lawyer had also contributed a silver medal earlier in the day when she finished her women’s 100m backstroke S8 meet with the time of one-minute 42.57s, behind Indonesian Gusmalayanti in first (one-minute 42.07s) and ahead of Thailand’s Wongnonthap Wilasini in third (one-minute 46.51s).
The 17-year-old wasn’t the only one who contributed silver on day three of the meet as three-time Paralympian Zul Amirul Sidi Abdullah, Zul’s son Anas, Ting Jin Ping and Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli made it a five-silver medal haul for Malaysia.
It started with Zul Amirul, 44, who finished his men’s 100m backstroke S5 swim at a time of one-minute 41.84s after failing to win in two of his previous events, the men’s 200m freestyle S5 and 50m butterfly S5.
The same category saw Zul Amirul’s nine-year record smashed by Vietnamese Vo Thanh Tung with a time of one-minute 26.77s.
Jamery Siga, 2017 Asean Para Games gold medallist in the men’s 100m freestyle S14, joined Zul Amirul on the podium as he finished in third (one-minute 46.08s).
Jin Ping, 19, clinched silver in the men’s 100m backstroke S14 as the para swimmer, who is intellectually impaired, clocked a time of one-minute 12.12s to finish behind 16-year-old Indonesian Muhammad Bejita (one-minute 03.60), who also broke the Games record set by Singapore’s Benson Tan in 2015 (one-minute 12.30s).
In the men’s 50m freestyle S5 category, Syaiful won the silver medal when he finished at 34.78s, just behind Thanh Tung, who equalised his own Games record at 34.50s, while Indonesian Mulyadi finished in third with 40.64s.
The last silver medal came in the last category of the day, the men’s 50m freestyle S14 where 2017 Asean Para Games gold medallist Anas outswam compatriot Mohd Adib Iqbal Abdullah (27.59s) for the silver at a time of 27.33s while Indonesian Bejita smashed a six-year old record set by Thailand’s Arun Kumuda (28.11s) after finishing at 25.98s for the gold.
After today’s meet, it brings Malaysia’s total medal haul in para swimming to six-gold, 13-silver and eight-bronze medals.
Para swimming continues in its last day tomorrow whereby 10 gold medals are up for grabs.