Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE Brunei swim team punched their ticket to the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia after beating the 4x100m freestyle national record on Wednesday night.
The quartet of Christian Nikles, Zeke Chan, Nur Haziq Ismail and last minute addition Muhammad Isa Ahmad completed the event with a time of 3:40.75.
It beats the old time of 3:41.00 set at the Brunei Long Course Swimming Championships in February.
"We’re over the moon. It wasn’t expected as I had a recent stomach bug and was out on MC for three days and the team had a late change in our lineup two months ago," said Nikles in an interview with BruSports News.
"These hurdles put a lot of doubt and uncertainty in your mind and it really hurts your confidence when the pressure to perform is so high.
"However, despite it all, deep down I knew we could break it," he added.
"After training together over the last few weeks, I saw how much improvement we were making and we were all looking sharp in the lead up.
"That’s not to say this will be the best time the team can do.
"We’re still in heavy training and will be polishing up on our mistakes from the time trial to prepare for what will be a better performance come the Games," continued Nikles.
Initially there were six swimmers shortlisted for the Games but two have withdrawn leading to late changes.
Joel Ling, who won silver in the 200m backstroke event at the SUKMA Games last year, couldn't attend due to his IGCSE exams while Ak Mohd Abdullah Saifullah was recently enrolled to ABDB.
Team manager Ak Farid Pg Idrus was relieved to overcome the hurdle.
"The selection criteria was really tough and challenging due to some technical problems prior to the time trial," said Farid.
"However, it was not a stopping wall for us and the BDNOC to prepare the swimmers for the big game," he added.
When asked on his expectations at the Games, Farid replied: "As this is our first time sending a relay team to SEA Games, we expect the swimmers to perform well and strive for a new national record and beyond.
"Not just in the relay but also in their individual events.
"We also seek prayers and support from the public for our Brunei team," he concluded.
