As everyone gathered to watch the opening ceremony of the world’s largest sports event, all competing athletes from their respective countries were dressed up and wearing face masks in compliance with the COVID-19 SOPs.
Malaysian national swimmer, Welson Sim is making waves and turning heads at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as the Chinese netizens caught a glimpse of Sim and began trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo as they gushed over his good looks.
The 24-year-old Kuching native participated in the men’s 400m and 200m freestyle categories and came in sixth and seventh place.
That said, let’s get to know the ‘Malaysian Flying Fish Prince’ a little bit more, shall we?
Sim was diagnosed with asthma as a child, which limited him from doing certain activities a child would enjoy. Swimming was recommended to him by his mother when he was 10 years old since it may help him overcome his illness. Not only did it help him, but he also excelled at the sport, becoming a member of the Sarawak state swimming team at the age of 12.
The national athlete told The Star that just because you have asthma doesn’t mean you can’t live an active life or compete at the top level of sports. “I am the living proof,” he says.
As he came from a humble background, he never knew he would have had the opportunity to compete in competitions and travelled to more than 20 countries meeting new friends of different cultures.
It was reported that he became Malaysia’s fastest man in the pool and has become a regular in all the national record-breaking feats from 2013 to 2014. He now holds the national records for the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 800m freestyle, as well as more than ten Southeast Asian Games medals, including three golds in the 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle.
With several medals and titles under his belt, his ultimate ambition, like every other athlete, was to compete in the Olympics. Sim was the first Malaysian male swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games in two events–the 200m and 400m freestyle–at the age of 19 in Rio 2016.
Now for the second time around, he is now competing in Tokyo 2020 after qualifying for the 200m and 400m freestyle event.
When he isn’t competing, the freestyle athlete likes to go on hikes, surf, and play badminton. He also appears to be a biker, as seen by his Instagram feed.