BRUNEI Darussalam national swimmer Muhammad Isa bin Ahmad accomplished a third new national record in a matter of days after clocking 29.90s in the men’s 50m breaststroke in the final day of the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Windsor, Canada.
The elite swimmer eclipsed compatriot Christian Nikles’s two-year record of 30.86s which his predecessor set during the Millfield & TDS SC Competition.
Muhammad Isa finished second in one of the slowest heats and was ranked 77th out of 95 entrants whom completed the race.
The swimmer has already broken new national records in the 50m split and 100m breaststroke in a strong start to the competition.
South African world-class swimmer Cameron van der Burgh erased memories of a premature exit in the 100m breaststroke by winning gold with a time of 25.64s.
Peter Stevens of Slovenia, who was the only swimmer to have tapped the finish line before Muhammad Isa in the 100m heats, claimed silver while Felipe Lima of Brazil took bronze.
Russia’s Kirill Prigoda has dominated the heats and the semi-finals with respective times of 26.23s and 25.95 but missed out on a podium finish after his time slowed down to 26.03s.
Nikles endured further disappointment in the world championship after his swim time of 54.09s was short of his own national record in the men’s 100m freestyle.
The national swimmer finished bottom in his heats and was ranked 120th overall out of 145 entrants.
Simonas Bilis of Lithuania won gold in the 100m freestyle with Japan’s Shinri Shioura taking silver and Australia’s Tommaso D’orsogna settling for bronze.
D’orsogna escaped missing the cut as the slowest qualifier in the semi-finals but his time dramatically improved in his final swim to help elevate to a medal position.
