KUALA LUMPUR: National swimmer Jayden Tan is aiming to break Vietnam's dominance in the individual medley (IM) discipline at the Thailand Sea Games next year.
Jayden claimed bronze in the men's 400m IM at the Phnom Penh Sea Games last year, finishing four seconds adrift of Vietnam's Tran Hung Nguyen, who took the gold. Nguyen Quang Thuan made it a 1-2 for Vietnam in the event.
"My main focus next will be the Sea Games, I am really looking forward to that one," said Jayden today.
"I am really hoping to do well. Not just in the individual events but also the relays. I feel that our team can be strong.
"As for my rivals there, the Vietnamese are really quick, both of them. They are very good, however, they are not unbeatable.
"I will try my best to bridge the gap. We still have about one and a half years until the Sea Games (Dec 7-19, 2025), so there is still time for me to improve.
"I have to maintain my discipline and keep pushing myself."
The 20-year-old added that the training environment in the national team has improved and is much more lively since the arrival of new Malaysia Aquatics swimming technical director Megan Oesting and head coach Eric Anderson earlier this year.
Jayden, representing Federal Territories (FT), did well to win the 400m freestyle event at the Malaysia Open Swimming Championships after clocking three minutes and 55.52 seconds at the National Aquatics Centre today.
FT teammate Dhuha Zulfikry (3:57.22s) and Iran's Ali Jafari (3:58.10s) came in second and third.
"I felt pretty decent today. This is not really a focus (tournament) for us so we did not taper," said Jayden, who will compete in the 200m IM tomorrow.
The women's 50m breaststroke competition witnessed Selangor's Phee Jinq En (31.92s) going under the meet record to claim silver ahead of Johor's Tan Rouxin (32.62s).
Denmark's Thea Blomsterberg set a new meet record of 31.63s en route to winning the gold. The former meet record of 31.99s had been set by Taiwan's Lin Pei-wun last year.
Results (all finals):
Men:
50m breaststroke: 1. Ronan Zuberg Wantenaar (Nam) 27.70s, 2. Likith Selvaraj Prema (Ind) 28.29s, 3. Andrew Goh (Sel) 28.32s.
100m butterfly: 1. Chan Jie (Sel) 53.66s, 2. Ng Tze Xiang (Sel) 55.41s, 3. Low Zheng Yong (Mel) 55.49s.
200m backstroke: 1. Hii Puong Wei (Swk) 2:07.25s, 2. Lucas Amin Ega Diaz (Dom) 2:11.15s, 3. David Lee (Kul) 2:12.49s.
400m freestyle: 1. Jayden Tan (Kul) 3:55.52s, 2. Mohd Dhuha Zulfikry (Kul) 3:57.22s, 3. Ali Jafari (Iri) 3:58.10s.
4x200m freestyle relay: 1. Federal Territories 7:58.59s, 2. Selangor 7:59.16s, 3. Sarawak 8:17.48s
Women:
50m breaststroke: Thea Blomsterberg (Den) 31.63s, 2. Phee Jinq En (Sel) 31.92, 3. Tan Rouxin (Joh) 32.63s.
100m butterfly: 1. Enkhkhuslen Batbayar (Mgl) 1:03.16s, 2. Lim Shun Qi (Sel) 1:03.98s, 3. Morgan Eleven Teo (Sel) 1:04.11s.
200m backstroke: 1. Idealy Diaritiana Tendrinavalona (Md) 2:26.59s, 2. Laura Lee (Sab) 2:29.08s, 3. Rainne Foo (Sel) 2:30.94s.
400m freestyle: 1. Enkhkhuslen Batbayar (Mgl) 4:18.46s, 2. Khew Zi Xian (Sel) 4:34.71s, 3. Jehanara Nabi (Pak) 4:36.41s.
4x200m freestyle relay: 1 Selangor 8:56.87s, 2 Sarawak 9:11.83s, Federal Territories 9:15.08s
