Daniel Bego

Bego was selected as the lone male swimmer to the national team, made his official debut, and represented Malaysia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also became the first Malaysian swimmer to compete in three different events at a single Olympics. Bego swam in the third heat of his first event, 200 m freestyle, against six other competitors, including Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea, who won in this heat. He finished sixth in the race, which was later dominated by American swimmer and all-time Olympian Michael Phelps. Although he failed to advance into the semi-finals, Bego broke his own national record in the heats, with a time of 1:50.92, to better his previous mark of 1:51.05 at an Olympic test event.[9]

The next day, Bego participated in his second event, 200 m butterfly. He swam in the third heat of the event, and came in seventh place and thirty-seventh overall by two tenths of a second (0.20), to Jeremy Knowles of the Bahamas, with a time of 2:01.28, finishing outside of his own national record.[10] After taking three days off from the heats, Bego competed in his third and final event, 100 m butterfly, which was merely dominated by Phelps. He finished the race with a fastest move, but came only in second place by just three tenths of a second (0.30) to Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands, clocking at 54.38 seconds. Bego placed fifty-fourth out of sixty-six swimmers in the event, failing to advance into the semi-final rounds.[11] Following his Olympic performance, Bego made an unprecedented effort at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, where he broke three national records in the butterfly events.[12]

Bego qualified again for five individual and three relay events at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos. He emerged as one of Malaysia's most promising and outstanding athletes, and set a historic milestone as the first male swimmer to win five gold medals in all of his individual events at a single games. He led the Malaysian National Swim team to an outstanding tally of nine gold medals, making it Malaysia's best ever effort at a regional meet, outside the host nation.[13]

Bego won gold medals for the first time in the men's 100 m and 400 m freestyle, with impressive national records of 50.16 seconds and 3:53.99, respectively. He put up a spectacular performance in the 200 m butterfly event, as he clawed his way back from the fourth position going into the final turn to strike another gold medal, with a time of 2:00.91. He also defended his titles for the third consecutive time in the 100 m butterfly and 200 m freestyle. For his latter event, Bego trailed behind American-trained Filipino Miguel Molina in the last 50 m by more than one body-length, until he surged his path to touch the pool for a gold, and set another national record of 1:49.22, just three seconds ahead of his previous mark set at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok. He also added his bronze medal for the national team in the men's freestyle relay events.[13] Following his five gold-medal feat, Bego was elected the Most Outstanding Athlete of the Games at the OCM – Coca-Cola Olympian of the Year Awards in Kuala Lumpur.[14]

In 2010, Bego competed for the second time at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, and at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, but finished the race outside of the national record and medal podium in each of his respective events, including his seventh-place finish for the men's 100 m butterfly. In 2011, Bego's shoulder injury took him out of swim competitions for the entire year. He had to undergo another shoulder surgery to correct a long-standing bone spur problem.[15] Because of the operation, he missed out on the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, and most importantly, the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia, shattering his hopes of repeating a five gold-medal haul in swimming.[15]

After his one-year absence from the surgery, Bego finally returned to the international stage in great physical form, by winning the 50 m butterfly event at the Malaysian Open Championships in Bukit Jalil, with a time of 26.38 seconds. He also put up a record-breaking performance for the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay at the 2012 Southeast Asian Championships in Singapore.[16] Bego, however, missed out of an opportunity to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as he failed to reach an invitational time of 1:51.59 in the men's 200 m freestyle, clocking only at 1:52.44.[17]