Khiew Hoe Yean placed tenth overall in the 400m free heats at the Commonwealth Games, but the 23-year-old had already named September's Asian Games as his real priority for the season.
🇲🇾 Khiew Hoe Yean touched 10th overall in the men's 400m freestyle heats at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but with September's Asian Games marked as the real target for the season, the 23-year-old's focus was never really on this one.
Hoe Yean walked into Glasgow with a Commonwealth Games final already on his résumé — sixth in Birmingham four years ago as a teenager making his Games debut. This time he touched fifth in his heat at 3:54.23, off the 3:50.58 he swam to bronze at May's Mare Nostrum meet in Barcelona and outside the 3:47.38 national record that's still his to defend. But four years on, Glasgow was never being raced the same way Birmingham was.
Sam Short of Australia, the reigning 2023 world champion, led all qualifiers at 3:46.23, with training partner Benjamin Goedemans right behind at 3:46.47. Northern Ireland's Daniel Wiffen rounded out the fastest three in 3:47.01 — a top end of the field that left little room for a swimmer not fully rested for this meet.
Hoe Yean had said before racing that he was "not tapered to perform at the Commonwealth Games as the Asian Games in September was the main priority." Glasgow, on that framing, was always going to be a form check rather than a peak swim — and the gap between his heat time here and his Barcelona bronze in May tracks with a swimmer holding something back for later in the year.
Jayden Tan Khai Xin finished 14th overall in the same 400m freestyle heats. In the men's 50m freestyle, neither Ananda Lim Yin Chuen (23.82) nor Arvin Shaun Singh (23.85) advanced, placing 28th and 29th respectively.
All four Malaysians race again in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay heats. It follows a 3:24.32 seventh-place finish for the same quartet in Friday's 4x100m freestyle final — the squad's best collective form of the meet so far.