KUALA LUMPUR: Swimmer Bryan Leong made a big splash by smashing two national records (men’s 50m freestyle and butterfly) and winning a podium spot (men’s 100m butterfly) at the just concluded AP Race London International.
The 21-year-old, who is based in United Kingdom, reclaimed his men’s 50m butterfly national record after clocking 24.08s to place fourth fastest in the heats on Monday.
Bryan lost his national record earlier in the year after former national swimmer Chan Jie set 24.14s in the South-east Asia age-group swimming meet in Philippines.
Bryan went on to finish sixth in the Super Final (main final) with 24.20s.
Bryan managed to made the podium in the men’s 100m butterfly race as well, clocking 52.92s behind two-time Olympic relay gold medallist James Guy of Britain (52.59s) and Daniel Gracik of Czech Republic (51.87s).
Bryan had started with a bang on Sunday when he became the first Malaysian swimmer to break the 23-second barrier for men’s 50m freestyle after clocking 22.91s for the eighth fastest time in the heats.
Bryan held the national record of 23.07s he set competing in the same meet last year.
In the final, the Kuala Lumpur-born swimmer clocked 23.20s for eighth spot.
The AP Race London meet is named after three-time British Olympic champion Adam Peaty and is a highly competitive gathering graced by world championship and Olympic medallists.