Muhammad Isa bin Ahmad. PHOTO: BASA
Brunei Darussalam swimmer Muhammad Isa bin Ahmad made back-to-back history after setting a new national short course record in the men’s 50m breaststroke event with a time of 29.32 seconds at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 metres) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates yesterday.
The 23-year-old broke his own national record and personal best (PB) of 29.65 seconds which he registered during the previous edition in Hangzhou, China in 2018.
His success came just five days after achieving a new national record in the men’s 100-metre breaststroke event in the same competition.
Muhammad Isa finished second in his heat round and 35th overall out of 51 entries who successfully completed the two-lap race.
Meanwhile, his compatriot Christian Nikles recorded a time of 53.83 seconds in the men’s 100-metre freestyle, well outside of the national record.
The national swimmer finished 83rd overall out of 100 entries who completed the race. Both swimmers have now completed their programmes in the prestigious world meet, which ends today.
In Muhammad Isa’s division, Belarussian swimmer Ilya Shymanovich topped the heats round classification after posting a time of 25.77 seconds followed by Turkey’s Huseyin Sakci with a time of 25.87 seconds and Brazil’s Joao Gomes Junior with a time of 26.01s.
In Nikles’ category, Canada’s Joshua Liendo Edwards became the fastest qualifier in the heats round after clocking a time of 46.26 seconds.
Also contention for a medal were Egypt’s Youssef Ramadan and Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov.
Kolesnikov has been one of the standout performers in Abu Dhabi after managing three gold and one silver.
