KUALA LUMPUR: Nadia Lim promised to swim under two minutes in the women's 200m freestyle and delivered a national record on Saturday.
The Kurenang Swimming Club swimmer clocked 1:59.19 seconds at the National Short Course Swimming Championships at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil.
She shaved 4.19 seconds off her own national record of 2:03.38, with her winning effort also a meet record.
More significantly, Nadia finished 0.46 seconds inside the B qualifying standard of 1:59.65 for the world short-course championships in Beijing.
PADE's Chong Yuan Yi finished second in 2:06.91, ahead of teammate Yoong Jia Jia in 2:08.56.
After winning the women's 200m individual medley in 2:17.53 on Thursday, Nadia had confidently targeted a sub-two-minute swim in the freestyle on the third day of competition.
She backed up that prediction following months of focused preparation since the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in August.
"For the past few months, after Sukma, I've been training really, really hard and doing a lot of 200 work. I'm just really happy that I went under two minutes," said Nadia.
"I came to this competition just to qualify for World Champs. I was waiting for the third day to do the 200 free, so I'm really happy."
Nadia said sharper turns and better leg-kick control helped her deliver after she identified weaknesses in the morning preliminaries.
"From prelims, I knew that I needed to work on my turns because they weren't really that fast in the morning," she said.
"I did that in the final, and I also made sure to control my leg kick throughout the race. I did that a lot better, so I was able to go sub-two."
Having cleared that barrier, Nadia now hopes to drop into the 1:58 range in Beijing.
Nadia will return to Dubai on Monday to resume training, with the SEA Age Group Championships next month before Beijing on her schedule.
"I've never been to such a high-level meet, only international age-group competitions. This is a whole new level, so I'm really excited," she added.
RESULTS
Men's 400m IM: 1. Tan Khai Xin (MAS) 4:16.48 (MR), 2. Hii Puong Wei (MAS) 4:21.83, 3. Lewis Mu Zi Long (DSA) 4:26.47.
50m breaststroke: 1. Lee Shing Yan (IBSC) 27.04, 2. Isaac Ng (PADE) 28.76, 3. Yu Xiang Cham (DSA) 28.93.
100m butterfly: 1. Low Zheng Yong (MAS) 53.85, 2. Goh Li Hen (MAS) 54.66, 3. Ho Zhi Yang (PADE) 54.76.
200m freestyle: 1. Lim Yin Chuen (MAS) 1:48.52, 2. Tan Khai Xin (MAS) 1:48.82, 3. Low Zheng Yong (MAS) 1:50.59.
Women's 400m IM: 1. Aw Yuet Ting (WST) 4:58.36, 2. Yoong Jia Jia (PADE) 5:08.93, 3. Kimberley Bee (VSC) 5:18.08.
50m breaststroke: 1. Isabelle Chiyi Buckley (IBSC) 32.79, 2. Khoo Sue Enn (KRNW) 33.28, 3. Anna Maglai (DSA) 33.98.
100m butterfly: 1. Aw Yuet Ting (WST) 1:01.34 (MR), 2. Mishya Khor Yue Lynn (PADE) 1:03.11, 3. Khoo Sue Enn (KRNW) 1:04.72.
200m freestyle: 1. Nadia Lim (KRSC) 1:59.19 (NR, MR), 2. Chong Yuan Yi (PADE) 2:06.91, 3. Yoong Jia Jia (PADE) 2:08.56.
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