SEA Games: Khiew Tze Yean best bet for finswimming bronze

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (Bernama) -- Despite being a newcomer to the relatively unknown sport of finswimming, the dream remains as daunting as it is prestigious for Malaysia’s athletes to bring home the bronze medal in their debut appearance at the SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam next month.

Team manager S Ravivarma said the bronze medal target comes from the men's 100 metres Bi-fin event with swimmer Khiew Tze Yean being the country’s main bet to achieve the mission.

"Before this, (finswimming event) appeared at the last SEA Games but due to the sport still being quite new here in the country, we did not participate in it.

"So this is the first appearance of our finswimming athletes participating in this SEA Games event which is placed in Category B (cost borne by athletes and will be refunded if a medal is won) and we remain confident in their ability to win the bronze medal," he told a press conference at the National Sports Council (NSC) here today.

He said five national athletes will vie in the relatively new event, with Malaysia entering three male and two female competitors in the pool race.

Apart from Tze Yean, the male entries are Saw Jin Er and Liew Ee Chern while the women swimmers are Cheng Ka Man and Leong Wan Mei.

Ravivarma said based on research, apart from Tze Yean, Wan Mei is also believed to be able to finish top five in the women's 100m Bi-fin event with a medal chance in sight.

'Fin swimming' is a swimming event using additional equipment such as a bi-fin or mono-fin, which is different from regular swimming which does not use any equipment.

The following is a list of events participated by the country's finswimming athletes at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam:

100m Bi-fin (men): Khiew Tze Yean, Saw Jin Er.

100m Bi-fin (women): Cheng Ka Man, Leong Wan Mei.

50m Surface Mono-fin (men): Liew Ee Chern. 

4x100m Bi-fin mixed medley: Cheng Ka Man, Leong Wan Mei, Khiew Tze Yean, Saw Jin Er.

-- BERNAMA