By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Sept 2: Sarawakian-born national swimmer Muhammad Nur Syaiful has broken his personal record of 33.20 seconds (s) in the 2019 London championship, with a new record of 32.82s at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Despite not contributing a medal, Bernama reported that the 26-year-old was satisfied with his own performance after ending his debut campaign in the final 50 metres (m) men’s freestyle event S5 (physical disability) in fifth place.
In the next 2024 Paralympics Games in Paris, he said he would try to do better, and for now, he will focus on winning a competition or a medal at the 2022 Asia Para Games in Hangzou, China and the world championship next year.
Yesterday (Sept 1) in the semi-finals, Nur Syaiful finished in third place in his first heat with a time of 33.45s.
The national swimmer from Asajaya, who suffers from a deformity in both legs after being involved in an accident at age 17, also emerged as the fifth-best swimmer from the two qualifying heats, booking himself a slot at the finals that took place on the same day at 6.29pm.
On Aug 29, Nur Syaiful failed to make the finals after being disqualified in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB4 (physical disability) heats for an infringement during the race as his head did not emerge to the surface of the water for a distance of 15 metres in the early stage of the race.
However, the following day, he broke his personal record in the men’s 100m freestyle S5 final.
He finished seventh out of eight swimmers with a time of 1:15.12s, beating his personal best of 1:15.39s set in London in 2019.
In his first event on Aug 25, he was also disqualified in heat one of the men’s 200m freestyle S5 on a technical issue, after he was found swimming with a plaster patch on his left shoulder to reduce the pain from an injury. — DayakDaily
