SIM Welson

General
RETURNING TO MALAYSIA
In January 2019 he began training with coach Craig Jackson at Vicentre Swimming Club in Melbourne, VIC, Australia, to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. In March 2020 he was forced to return to Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "I can see the environment there is very different and all swimmers are hungry for success and they show it in training everyday. I've also learned to be more independent because all swimmers have to prepare their own meals for lunch and dinner but here [in Malaysia] I am provided for. So it was challenging at first but I got used to it. I was not expecting myself to leave Melbourne so soon but the National Sports Council have ordered all athletes training overseas to come back because of the outbreak in many countries. I was shocked initially and felt very reluctant to leave in a sudden as this decision will affect my preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo." He has since resumed training with national coach Chris Martin in Malaysia. "It is also good for me to start from scratch with coach Chris Martin, learning techniques from the United States because before this I followed the Australian training programme." (nst.com.my, 18 Aug 2020; thestar.com.my, 20 Mar 2020; swimming.org.au, 24 Oct 2019; nst.com.my, 31 Jul 2019; malaysiaswimming.org, 26 Apr 2019)