Jamery eyes medals in Rio after easy win in the pool

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Jemary receives his medal and prizes from Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister, Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.

Jemary receives his medal and prizes from Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister, Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.

Jemary (centre) poses with his medal after the presentation ceremony. He is flanked by Zul Amirul and Muhd Nur (right).

Jemary (centre) poses with his medal after the presentation ceremony. He is flanked by Zul Amirul and Muhd Nur (right).

KUCHING: National swimmer Jamery Siga is all pumped up for the upcoming Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, setting his eyes on a top three finish in his favourite 50m butterfly event.

The 30-year-old from Limbang clocked 1min 26.26sec to win gold in the men’s 100m freestyle S5/S4 category yesterday, in what he described as a ‘workout run’ going into the summer paralympics which begin on Sept 7. Jamery, who has cerebral palsy since birth, will also compete in the 50m and 100m S5 freestyle.

“I’m not fully fit, I am currently undergoing treatment for my right leg. In today’s race, I decided to take it slow and steady. I was treating it as a practice run, my warm up before Rio. I have set a personal target of winning a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly event. I will do my best,” he told reporters when met after the medal presentation ceremony.

The full-time swimming athlete was pretty upbeat on his chances of winning a medal in Rio, explaining that he is currently the world’s number six in the men’s S5 50m butterfly event.

His optimism is shared by Malaysia Sports Council which identified him as one of potential medal winners in the Rio Paralympics.

Jamery pointed out that his disability had never hindered his love for sports, adding that he took up swimming competitively in 2003, before he was picked to represent the state in 2009. His personal best in the 50m butterfly event is 37sec and he hopes to rewrite his records in Brazil.

This will be his second paralympics having represented the country in the London 2012 games. He and the rest of the Malaysian swimmers are scheduled to depart for Rio de Janeiro on Aug 29.

However, his winning time in the men’s 100m freestyle – on the first day 18th Malaysian Paralympiad at the aquatics centre here – was about two seconds short of the meet record he set in 2014.

In second place was Zul Amirul Sidi Abdullah of Terengganu, who finished at 1min 38.22sec. Sarawak’s Muhd Nur Syaiful took third place with a time of 1min 54.33sec.

Other Sarawak gold medal winners were Vinton Jarit in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 classification, Isak Ngau (S11) and Jeffry Nowel Jana (S8), Galang Jabai (S7), Sallehin Pandita (S6); Donny SA in the men’s 50m backstroke S8 classification and Dominic Fam Foh Khing (S7).