By Les Tan/Red Sports
Scott Ang (foreground) keeps pace with Kenneth Lim at the start of the 750m swim leg. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
East Coast Park, Saturday, August 1, 2009 – Scott Ang of Singapore Sports School and Clara Wong of Methodist Girls’ School won the Youth Olympic Games selection race held at the Singapore International Triathlon*.
It was Kenneth Lim though who set the early pace in the boys’ time trial. The 16-year-old Secondary four student was first out of the water after the 750m swim leg with Scott, 15, second. Trailing in third was Travis Woodford.
Things changed on the 20km bike leg when Scott took the lead, overhauling Kenneth who was on a brand-new bike. Travis also overtook Kenneth on the second loop of the bike course.
By the time they started the 5km run leg, Scott was 30 seconds ahead of Travis with Kenneth off the pace, about 3 minutes behind. Scott led from start to finish in the run with a time of 1hr 8min 7sec.
“I’m thrilled that the race went really well,” said Scott. “My bike behaved well, nothing bad happened!”
In the girls’ race, Clara Wong, 16, was first out of the water, ahead of Samantha Ho. Clara, however, was caught by Samantha on the second bike lap but Clara, who is the 2009 B Division cross-country champion, caught Samantha on the run to power home first in 1hr 19min 37sec.
“I’m surprised I caught up with Sam,” said Clara after the race. “I though that she would be way ahead of me. I was not expecting to beat Sam.”
According to Clara, she overtook Samantha around the 3.5km mark on the run but conceded that she did not have enough running training.
“I’ve been swimming, not running, since the inter-school cross country,” she said.
The third girl expected in the race, Christel Fung, did not take part in the time trial as she was knocked out by a fever and a sore throat after coming back from the ASEAN Schools meet in Thailand the day before.
The top three boys – Scott Ang, Travis Woodford and Kenneth Lim – confirmed their places in the YOG squad and will be joined by Clara Wong and Samantha Ho. They will now go on to compete at the Asian Triathlon Championships in South Korea on August 29th which is a YOG qualifying event.
* N.B. The race is also known as the Osim Singapore International Triathlon
YOG Training Squad
Scott Ang 1hr 8min 7sec
Travis Woodford 1:10.46
Kenneth Lim 1:14.39
Clara Wong 1:19.37
Samantha Ho 1:20.15
Start List for Selection Race
Female
Samantha Ho
Clara Wong
Christel Fung
Male
Scott Ang
Joel Wong
Joe Phan
Travis Woodford
Kenneth Lim
Travis Woodford finds himself in the second row of swimmers together with Clara Wong (foreground). (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Samantha Ho comes up for air. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Kenneth Lim is the first to finish the swim… (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… while Travis Woodford is third, behind Scott Ang. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Kenneth Lim drops to third in the bike behind Travis and Scott… (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… while Samantha Ho overhauls Clara Wong. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
A strong bike leg sets Scott Ang up for a first-place finish… (Photo 8 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… ahead of Travis Woodford in second… (Photo 9 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… and Kenneth Lim in third. (Photo 10 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Clara Wong manages to cross the finish line in first… (Photo 11 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… after she overtook Samantha Ho in the 5km run leg. (Photo 12 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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