KUALA LUMPUR: Khiew Hoe Yean was again the fastest Southeast Asian swimmer in his event at the Doha World Aquatic Championships today.
Hoe Yean clocked one minute and 49.14 seconds in the men's 200 metre freestyle preliminaries, which was down on his personal best of 1:47.81s achieved en route to winning gold at the Hanoi Sea Games in 2022.
It placed him fourth in his heat and 32nd overall from 67 swimmers that competed in the event.
The result was not enough to see Hoe Yean make the top-16 cut for the semi-finals. Hoe Yean had placed 21st overall in the 400m freestyle preliminaries yesterday and was also the fastest Southeast Asian swimmer.
The women's event today witnessed Phee Jinq En clocking 1:11.31s in the 100m breaststroke preliminaries to place seventh in her heat and 35th overall from 53 swimmers that competed. Only the top-16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Her time was some way off her own national record of 1:08.40s set at the Tokyo Olympics (2021).
Hoe Yean will take to the pool for the men's 800m freestyle preliminaries tomorrow.