Zheng Yong ends long wait with breakthrough swim
KUALA LUMPUR: After a long spell of stagnation, swimmer Low Zheng Yong finally has a breakthrough to savour.
Low Zheng Yong, a swimmer from Malaysia, has achieved a significant breakthrough in his swimming career. He set a new national record in the 200m butterfly, finishing the race in 1 minute 56.80 seconds. This time marked a substantial improvement from his previous record of 1:57.96, which was recorded during the National Short Course Swimming Championships in Bukit Jalil on Friday.
By breaking the national record, Zheng Yong has qualified for the World Championships in Beijing in December, a feat he had previously come close to missing by only half a second.
Expressing his joy, Zheng Yong mentioned that he had stagnated for a long time and was thrilled to finally make a breakthrough. Despite a difficult morning where he was dissatisfied with his heat performance due to nerves and a tight body, Zheng Yong regained his composure before the final and focused on executing the race well. He emphasized that he was not thinking about the national record or the World Championships cutoff while swimming; instead, he was simply trying to perform the best he could.
Looking ahead, Zheng Yong aims to further improve his performance in preparation for the December championships. His longer-term goal is to secure a medal at the upcoming Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, a target he set despite missing the previous edition's qualifying standards. He advised fellow athletes to maintain a steady training regimen, one month and one day at a time, to achieve their goals.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
