KUCHING: The Federal Territories' (FT) Dhuha Zulfikry arrived at the Sarawak Malaysia Games (Sukma) full of hunger after not winning an individual medal at the last edition in 2022.
Today, he added another gold medal to his trophy cabinet at this edition, winning the 400m freestyle and setting a meet record along the way at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatics Centre.
His time of three minutes and 55.59 seconds beat Vernon Lee's mark of 3:58.65s set at the 2012 edition in Pahang.
Selangor's Henry Goh (4:06.40s) won silver and Samuel Lai (4:06.88s) from Penang took bronze.
"This is my fifth gold medal and fourth meet record, so I'm proud of this achievement.
"I would like to add more gold medals to my collection, coming into this edition I was looking at five to seven gold medals.
"I feel confident about reaching that target," said the Form Four Victoria Institution student.
Dhuha's quest for more gold was briefly halted in the 4x200m freestyle relay, where Selangor outperformed with a new meet record of 7:37.51, surpassing FT's 2018 mark of 7:40.17.
FT claimed silver with a time of 7:39.21, and Penang took bronze with 7:52.03.
Dhuha will compete in the 800m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay tomorrow, aiming to achieve his goal of seven gold medals.
More Sukma records fell today as FT's Bryan Leong broke Chan Jie's record of 54.80s set in 2016 by posting 53.22s to win gold in the 100m butterfly.
Selangor's Jayden Goh (55.68s) won silver, and Penang's Elson Lee (57.10s) took bronze.
Then it was Andrew Goh's turn to get in on the record breaking action in the 200m breaststroke.
He broke Ng Jing Fu's record of 2:17.47s set in 2018 by posting a time of 2:16.40s to claim his fourth gold of this edition for Selangor.
Melaka's Joseph Chan (2:19.60s) won silver, while FT's Yu Xiang Cham (2:20.79s) took bronze.
RESULTS
Men's 100m butterfly: 1 Bryan Leong (FT) 53.22s (MR), 2 Jayden Goh (Sgr) 55.68, 3 Elson Lee (Pen) 57.10;
400m freestyle: 1 Dhuha Dzulfikry (FT) 3:55.59 (MR), 2 Henry Goh (Sgr) 4:06.40, 3 Samuel Lai (Pen) 4:06.88;
200m breaststroke: 1 Andrew Goh (Sgr) 2:16.40 (MR), 2 Joseph Chan (Mel) 2:19.60, 3 Yu Xiang Cham 2:20.79;
4x200m freestyle: 1 Selangor 7:37.51 (MR), 2 FT 7:39.21, 3 Penang 7:52.03.
Women's 400m freestyle: 1 Kelly Teo (Swk) 4:31.85s, 2 Khew Zi Xian (Sgr) 4:34.26, 3 Chu Xin Ying (Sbh) 4:38.05;
100m butterfly: 1 Lim Shun Qi (Sgr) 1:01.84, 2 Morgan Eleven Teo (Sgr) 1:04.07, 3 Charlotte Loke 1:04.43;
200m breaststroke: 1 Khoo Sue Enn (Sgr) 2:37.93, 2 Alicia Li (Jhr) 2:39.38, 3 Low Ee Mang (Sgr) 2:40.10;
4x200m freestyle: 1 Selangor 8:45.45, 2 Sarawak 8:52.19, 3 Penang 8:54.86.