We got your back, minister tells Sarawak athletes

May 1, 2019

Sim receives the incentives from Abdul Karim as Youth and Sports Assistant Minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan (left) and Sarawak Sports Corporation chief executive Dr Ong Kong Swee look on.

KUCHING: National swimmer Welson Sim has received a RM91,500 grant from the Sarawak government to cover his training expenses in Melbourne, Australia over the past four months since January.

The 21-year-old is currently training under Mack Horton – a Rio 2016 Olympic 400m freestyle champion – and has set his sights to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic next year.

“The State government will not let our athletes be left on the ledge, that’s why we have to come in,” said Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah when met by reporters accompanied by Sim at the lobby of State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex, Petra Jaya here yesterday.

Abdul Karim added that the state government is also providing assistance to other local athletes and he reassured Sim that he can always approach the state government if he faces any difficulties in his endeavour.

Sim told reporters that he is grateful for the incentive and support received and looked forward to participate in the upcoming major competitions namely the world championship in July and Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the end of year.

“I am very grateful for the money granted by the state government as the costs incurred for training in Australia is very high due to the currency exchange and I have to pay for my own expenses all this while,” said Sim who felt that the grant was also an acknowledgment of his achievements by the state government.

During the recently concluded Malaysia Open Swimming Championship in Bukit Jalil, Sim bagged four gold and two bronze medals. He broke three meet records in the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.54s, 200m freestyle (1:47.48s) and 400m freestyle (3:50.32s).

Sim, from Jalan Foochow here, is also the 800m freestyle national record holder.

He was voted as 2017 Olympian of the Year and Best Sportsman at 2017 SEA Games by the Malaysian Olympics Council. -TheBorneoPost