Malaysian swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean bagged the country's first gold medal at the 2021 SEA Games after finishing first in the men's 200m freestyle final on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old, who already had three silver medals from 400m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 4x200m freestyle relay in his second SEA Games appearance, clinched the gold medal with a time of 1:47.81.

He finished ahead of Singaporean swimmer Quah Zheng Wen (1:48.20), who already had four gold medals at the My Dinh Aquatic Centre, and crowd favourite Hoang Quy Phuoc (1:49.35).

National compatriot Welson Sim, who won the event in 2017 and finished runner-up in 2019, finished sixth with 1:50.63.

At the same time, Khiew's victory, which was Malaysia's 27th gold medal in Vietnam, ended the men's gold medal streak enjoyed by the host nation and Singapore, who won nine and seven respectively.

Khiew was involved in all five medals won by Malaysia so far but one — a bronze medal that was clinched by Job Tan Xi Jay in the men's 200m breaststroke.