Shen started swimming at the age of 10 and made his debut in the Sarawak President Cup a year later. When I jumped into the pool, my main purpose was not to win a gold medal, but to strengthen my body because I was suffering from asthma.
At the Victoria Open in Melbourne, Australia, Shen finished second to Olympic champion Mark Horton in the men’s 400 m freestyle. Shen Wei Sheng, Malaysia’s first ever A mark to qualify for the Olympic Games, swam 3:54.07 in the final, which was won by Australian swimmer David McKean (3:50.74), while Olympic champion Horton was third in 3:54.53.
In 2017, he defeated Olympic gold medalist Horton on the first day of the Monaco Tour of the Mediterranean to win the championship. He clocked 3:49.48 in the men’s 400m freestyle, breaking his own national record of 3:50.33 set at the national age division meet in Singapore last March (2016) to become the second Malaysian swimmer to win a gold medal in the event. Horton, who won gold at the Rio Olympics, took silver in 3:50.13, ahead of China’s Qiu Ziao, who swam 3:51.18.