Bryston Lee Khai Cheng won the Boys 14-15 category at the 2nd MILO-East Meets West (EMV) Invitational Swimming Championships 2026 in 18:00, the fastest time of all 31 swimmers in the boys’ individual race.

The official results list him as the overall winner of the boys’ race on 9 November. Later that day, he swam the final leg for Team F, which placed third of six teams in the Mixed Relay in 34:36.

“I was actually quite surprised that I managed to achieve this result. I didn’t expect to finish with this time, but I’m really happy with how the race went,” Bryston told ToughASIA.

Azfar Qayyum bin Mohamad Fahidan was second in the Boys 14-15 category in 20:06, with Jaydon Goh Jen Roong third in 20:27.

Bryston said he tries not to focus on the gap between himself and the other swimmers.

“Instead, I concentrate on my own performance, pacing and technique. I believe every race is an opportunity to improve myself, so I just keep pushing until the finish,” he said.

His splits in the individual race ranged from 1:14 to 1:25 between the start and the 1.308km mark, according to the results.

“Pacing is definitely an important part of my training, especially for longer-distance events,” he said. “My coach and I work on maintaining a consistent pace while managing my energy throughout the race.”

The championships were held in a Pool OWS format, which Bryston said was quite different from a normal pool competition.

“I had to pay more attention to positioning, awareness and navigating around other swimmers. I also needed to adapt to the different race conditions,” he said. “It was a good experience for me to develop my open-water skills in a pool environment.”

In the Mixed Relay, Bryston was listed as Member 4 of Team F, alongside Ashleigh Yan Eexuan, Nur Arissa Damia Mohd Sufian and Ahmad Zaayed bin Muhammad Iqbal, who came from different clubs.

“Although we don’t train together regularly, everyone was cooperative and supportive,” he said.

Between his two races, Bryston said he focused on stretching, using a foam roller and staying hydrated, and rested as much as he could.

The results show his relay leg splits as 1:26, 1:20, 1:19 and 1:19 up to the 2.071km mark.

“Even though I was already quite tired from the earlier race, I reminded myself to keep pushing and maintain my technique. Having my teammates counting on me also gave me extra motivation,” he said.

“There is still a lot I can improve on,” Bryston said, “and I’ll continue working hard for my next competition.”