Malaysian swimmer Bruce Chan Kok Hao, 16, won the Boys 16-25 50m butterfly in 27.63 and the 50m freestyle in 26.25 on 8 November at the 2nd MILO East Meets West Invitational Swimming Championships 2026.

A day earlier, he finished second in the 100m freestyle in 1:01.67 and in the 100m butterfly in 1:09.00, and third in the 50m breaststroke in 36.15, according to the official results.

“I am most satisfied with my 50m Butterfly. I had prepared for that very race the most, and the results are really stunning,” Bruce told ToughASIA.

The results show he dropped 0.33 from his 50m butterfly entry time of 27.96. In the 50m freestyle, he swam 26.25 against an entry time of 26.26.

Bruce said he sees the 50m butterfly as his strongest event, as he has hit the eligible time to qualify for the Malaysia Invitational Age Group (MIAG) competition in it.

“I also believe that it is because 50m Butterfly focuses more on upper body explosiveness to generate peak propulsion right off the dive, which is primarily what I have trained for,” he said.

“I was honestly inspired by the swimmer, Cameron McEvoy. My whole training program targets explosiveness for the sprints,” he said.

His programme includes weighted pull-ups, cable rows, prone rows and other weighted exercises aimed at explosiveness and power.

Heading into the Sunday, Bruce said his main focus was on that day’s races rather than the day before.

“I know I had trained really hard for 50m Butterfly and 50m Free, I knew I cannot let these efforts go to waste, since I’ve climbed up this far, I just had to go all out, even if I’m tired from yesterday’s events,” he said.

Over the last few metres of the 50m freestyle, he said he worked on making his freestyle pulls more efficient while holding an efficient stroke rate.

“I knew that the job wasn’t done yet, so I kept pushing forward,” he said.

On the Saturday, Bruce said he did roughly 500m of warm-down swimming after every race, then stretched and had a light snack.

His 100m butterfly splits were 30.71 for the first 50m and 38.29 for the second, the results show.

“During the final 50 meters, my mind keeps telling me to push, even if I am tired. I knew I had to keep pushing forward, even if it hurts. The lactic acid was building up, my strokes started to slip, but I just kept pushing on,” he said.

In the 50m breaststroke, he dropped 1.05 from his entry time of 37.20.

“I just focused on my swim. I only cared about what I would do in the swim, not what result I would get. This mentality allowed me to perform better,” Bruce said.

He said racing in the Boys 16-25 category did not change his strategy or mental preparation.

“Improving is my main goal that drives me, so my mind stays the same no matter who I’m up against,” he said.

Bruce said his next goals are to make it to MIAG for the Selangor team in 2027 in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle, and to swim 26.00 in the 50m butterfly by the end of 2027.

“I’m also going to improve my overall power and technique, so that one day, I will be able to represent Malaysia in the SEA Games in the 50m Butterfly and Freestyle,” he said.