KUALA LUMPUR: Swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean was in fine form at the Doha World Aquatic Championships, as he smashed his national record in the men's 800m freestyle preliminaries today.
Hoe Yean clocked eight minutes and 2.78 seconds to lop over two seconds off his previous national mark of 8:05.11s, which he had set at last year's world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
This time, it saw him place third in his heat and 28th overall among the 43 swimmers in the event.
However, it was not enough to see him make the top-eight cut for the final.
The result will give Hoe Yean, who will turn 22 later this year, an added shot of confidence ahead of next year's Bangkok Sea Games as he was faster than both Singapore and Vietnam's long-distance specialists.
Vietnam's Nguyen Huy Hoang (8:05.17s) and Singapore's Glen Lim (8:09.34s) placed 29th and 34th, respectively.
Italy's Luca de Tullio (7:46.52s), Ireland's Daniel Wiffen (7:46.90s) and Germany's Sven Schwarz (7:46.95s) rounded out the top three.
Jayden Tan will carry Malaysian hopes in the men's 200m individual medley event tomorrow.