Welson Sim was at a loss of words after finishing seventh in the men's 400m freestyle final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

Despite having the second best reaction time of 0.67s ahead of the likes of eventual winner Mack Horton (0.70s) and second-place Jack McLoughlin (0.69s), the Sarawakian finished with a time of 3:53.56s, more than eight seconds from a podium finish.

Not only that, his time was also slower than his national record of 3:49.48s and the time he set on Thursday morning's heat.

"My time was really bad [and] slower than this morning's. I do not know what happened," he told Astro Arena right after the race.

"I was focused on my own performance and thinking of ways to increase my stroke rate, but it did not work out. The journey is still a long one for me."

Meanwhile, another Malaysian swimmer reaching the final, Tian Jin Ping, managed to record his new personal best of 2:20.93s in the men's S14 200m freestyle event and finish seventh.

Catch Astro's comprehensive coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games with the GC2018 Season Pass!