King Of The Pool: Andrew Splashes Sukma 2024 With Five Gold, Three National Records

By Vikneswaran Raman

KUCHING, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Selangor swimmer Andrew Goh capped off his outstanding 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) campaign with five gold medals and three national and five Games records, emerging as the top performer at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre here.

On the final day of swimming events, the 20-year-old Andrew, alongside teammates Teoh Kar Chuan, Jayden Goh Li Jie, and Loke Yew Jien, clocked three minutes and 49.12 seconds (s) to claim the men’s 4x100 metre (m) medley gold with new Games record. 

Federal Territories (FT), consisting of David Lee Boon Wei, Cham Yu Xiang, Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry, and Yap Min Shun, secured the silver with a time of 3:51.82s. Penang's Samuel Lai Chong Weng, Wan Khai Hern, Elson Lee Chun Hong, and Chris Chew Vi Min took bronze with 4:00.41s.

“I feel amazing, I couldn’t have achieved this victory without my team. I need to keep working harder and keep improving, hopefully one day I can represent Malaysia in the Olympics,” he said.

Andrew previously bettered his national and Games record twice en route to winning the men’s 50m breaststroke gold, while on Monday broke his own national and Games records when he took the 100m breaststroke gold.

He also won the men’s 200m breaststroke gold with a new Games record, on top of two gold medals in the 200m individual medley and mixed 4x100m medley.

Meanwhile, FT’s Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry clinched gold in the men’s 800m freestyle with a time of 8:14.58s, ending his campaign with five golds, two silvers and four Games records.

Melaka's Anselm Lee Jun Xian (8:37.28s) and Selangor’s Jayden Goh Li Jie (8:37.31s) won silver and bronze, respectively.

Sarawak’s Kelly Teo Yao added a final gold to her tally in the women’s 1,500m freestyle with a time of 17:56.21s, wrapping up her 2024 SUKMA with six gold, one silver and two bronze medals

With Sarawak offering RM15,000 for each gold medal, along with RM5,000 and RM3,000 for silver and bronze, respectively, the 18-year-old is set to earn around RM100,000

“I am very happy with this achievement and my next target is the SEA Age Group Championships in Thailand in December. There’s no secret, I achieved this through my hard work as I train four hours a day for six days a week.

“I had only targeted around four gold medals, so getting six is definitely unexpected. I want to treat my family and close friends with the incentives, buy a car and the rest I will save,” she said. 

FT emerged as the top swimming team in this 21st edition of the Games with 16 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals out of the 41 golds available, followed by Selangor (13-19-7) and Sarawak (9-1-7).

-- BERNAMA