Olympics: Welson equals national record in Rio

National swimmer Welson Sim came close to rewriting his national record in the 200m freestyle event but had to be statisfied with just equalling it at the the Rio Olympics Games here on Sunday.

In his second event after yesterday's 400m freestyle race at the Olympics Aquatics Center here, the 19-year-old clocked 1:47.67s in Heat 3, equalling the national record which he set at the Singapore Age Group Championships in March.

His timing only placed him in second spot in the heat and 28th overall.

Only the 16 fastest swimmers in the heats qualify for the semi-finals.

"I am a bit disappointed because I could have done a lot better. I went all out in the last 50m but it was too late," said the Sarawak-born swimmer who will compete in the 1,500m freestyle on Friday.

On his final event, Welson made clear of his intention to improve on his personal best of 15:53.63s which he set in the Malaysian Open in May.

The national record of 15:23.61s was set by Jeffrey Ong in 1991.

Meanwhile, national woman swimmer Phee Jinq En, who qualified for the Olympics under category B, was in tears after clocking a poor 1:10.22s in the 100m breaststroke to finish second in the heat.

Qualifying for the only event here, Jinq En failed to come anyway close to her national record of 1:08.65s which she set in the Malaysian Open this year.