THREE CHEERS AS BROTHERS GET PODIUM FINISHES AFTER SWITCHING FROM TRACK TO POOL

KUCHING, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- The decision by three visually-impaired brothers from Kapit, Sarawak to switch from athletics to swimming paid off when they delivered medals for the 2024 Malaysia Para Games (Para SUKMA) hosts at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre here today.

Eldest brother Donny Jaranding, 44, splashed home to two gold medals - clocking 1 minute 18.00 seconds (s) in the 100-metre (m) freestyle S13 and 1:46.45s  in the 100m backstroke S13 events.

His younger brothers, 38-year-old Julius and 40-year-old Stanley each contributed a silver and bronze respectively in the 100m freestyle S12 category. Julius clocked 1:13.51s and Stanley 1:18.03s

Donny, who was involved in athletics from 1998 to 2016 before switching to swimming in 2017, shed tears of joy during the medal presentation ceremony as he marked his final outing in the biennial Games with a podium finish, just like his two siblings.

"I'm ecstatic (that I won) because this is my last SUKMA (and) thrilled because my two brothers also won medals.

"I want to thank our coaches, family members and friends for always supporting us. I just did my best for Sarawak,” he told reporters here today.

Julius, meanwhile, said there was something special about competing at the Games with his brothers.

Although he was disappointed at failing to deliver the gold medal for his home state, he vowed to go all out and make amends in his remaining events.

"I was into athletics during my school days before switching to swimming. This (silver medal) win is for our parents for always supporting us,” he said.

Stanley, who used to be active in track and field (100m, 200m and long jump), said he turned to swimming as he felt he could achieve better results in the pool.

-- BERNAMA