2025 Malaysian Open
- April 24-27, 2025
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- LCM (50 Meters)
Olympian Khiew Hoe Yean shined at the 2025 Malaysian Open, collecting eight golds over the course of the four-day competition and breaking his 200 IM Malaysian record on the final day. Hoe Yean, 22, swam 2:03.29 to win gold in the event, breaking the 2:03.77 he set at this meet two years ago.
“I really did not expect to break the national record,” Hoe Yean told The New Strait Times. “I woke up feeling good, and during the warm-up, I felt great. But this is totally unexpected as I was only aiming for 2:04s. Freestyle is my best stroke but I picked up the medley because I find it fun. My time was fast and I’m really happy. However, there is still more work to be done, so let’s keep pushing and bring the national record down further.”
Hoe Yean’s 200 IM time was seven-hundredths from the ‘B’ cut for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. He cleared that bar in several other events. He earned a ‘B’ cut, or consideration time, in the 100 (50.00), 200 (1:48.46), and 400 freestyle (3:52.55), emphasizing that freestyle is his primary discipline. The two-time defending SEA Games 200 freestyle champion, Hoe Yean raced the 400 freestyle at last summer’s Paris Olympics.
In addition to his 100/200/400 freestyle and 200 IM golds, Hoe Yean won the 100 backstroke (56.41) and 200 backstroke (2:04.21) along with two relays to put together a dominant showing at the meet.
He was not alone in taking down a national record, though. Tsui Yik Ki broke the Hong Kong 50 breaststroke record by .23 seconds in prelims with a 27.76. He was off that time slightly in the final with a 27.96, but still hit a World Aquatics ‘B’ cut, touching second to Felix Viktor Iberle (27.52).
Bangladesh’s Samiul Islam Rafi took down four national records at the meet. The Paris Olympian established a new Bangladeshi record to win the 50 backstroke in 26.83, winning what he said was his first international gold. Then, he added records in the 100 backstroke (58.48), 50 butterfly (26.01), and 200 IM (2:12.12).
While he already owned both backstroke marks, his times in the 50 fly and 200 IM took down long-standings records. His 50 fly time bettered the 26.06 Mohamed Mahamudun Nobi Nahid swam at the 2016 SEA Games. Then, his 200 IM broke the 2:13.69 standard Mohamed Juwel Ahmed swam at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.
Several more swimmers achieved 2205 World Aquatics Championships ‘B’ cuts but no ‘A’ times. Muhammad Dhuha Bini Zulfikry joined Hoe Yean under the 400 freestyle ‘B’ cut with a 3:55.96. Singapore’s Jayden Tan and Thailand’s Susait Thongdeang cleared their cuts by less than a tenth. Tan got under the men’s 400 IM ‘B’ cut by five-hundredths (4:26.44) and Thongdeang earned the men’s 200 IM cut by seven-hundredths (2:00.52).
On the women’s side, while Singapore’s Nicholle Toh collected four event wins (100 free/200 free, 50 fly/100 fly), Wui Kiu Man swam 2:17.45 in the 200 IM to hit the World Aquatics Championships ‘B’ standard.
