SEA Games Swimming: Singapore in action

By Erwin Wong/Red Sports and Les Tan/Red Sports

Ed’s note: We will update this post continuously with results and photos as they become available. If you have info to add, feel free to let us know and we’ll update accordingly. Thanks.

Palembang, Thursday, November 17, 2011 — Singapore swimmers finished with 17 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals after six days of competition at the 26th South-east Asian (SEA) Games.

Teo Zhen Ren smashed his own national record by more than 11 seconds when he clinched a surprise gold medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle. Filipino Ryan Arabejo and Malaysian Kevin Yeap set the early pace but the Raffles Institution student took the lead soon after and never relinquished it. Zhen Ren clocked a time of 15:44.32, bettering his personal best of 15:55.34 set in July. It was just outside the Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark of 15:43.74.

Quah Zheng Wen, 15, finished fourth and set yet another personal best. He had earlier set PBs in the 50m backstroke, 200m butterfly and 400m IM. He clocked 16:05.44 in the 1500m freestyle, which was less than a second off Zhen Ren’s national under-17 record of 16:04.57.

Tao Li won her seventh and final gold medal of the Games when she finished first in the women’s 50m butterfly. The defending Asian Games champion was slow off the blocks but stormed through the field to win with a time of 26.59 seconds. Mylene Ong took the bronze with a personal best of 27.71.

Joseph Schooling broke his fourth national record in as many individual events at the Games when he finished second in the men’s 200m Individual Medley final. He clocked a time of 2:04.85 to break his own national open and under-17 record of 2:05.07. Jeremy Mathews was fourth in a new personal best of 2:07.13.

Samantha Yeo finished fifth in the women’s 50m breaststroke final in a time of 33.65 seconds. Cheryl Lim was eighth in 34.59.

Koh Hui Yu and Meagan Lim finished seventh and eighth in the women’s 200m Individual Medley final, clocking times of 2:22.56 and 2:25.10 respectively.

The 4x100m medley relay quartet of Zach Ong, Ng Jia Hao, Joseph Schooling and Danny Yeo were disqualified after the race for an illegal changeover between Zach and Jia Hao. Singapore had initially finished second behind runwaway winners Indonesia.

Palembang, Wednesday, November 16, 2011 — Tao Li smashed her own national and SEA Games records en route to winning Singapore’s first swimming gold of the night in the 100m backstroke final. The respective record times were 1:02.72 and 1:02.96, but she swam a dominant race to come home in a time of 1:02.11. This is below the Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark of 1:02.95. Meagan Lim was fifth with a personal best of 1:05.85.

The quartet of Jeremy Mathews, Clement Lim, Teo Zhen Ren and Danny Yeo also struck gold when they won the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. They clocked a time of 7:31.98, which was four seconds quicker than silver medalists Malaysia, but more than a second off their national and SEA Games record of 7:30.73. It was still the fastest time officially registered after non-textile suits were banned in 2010.

Mylene Ong equalled a season’s best to win a silver medal in the women’s 100m freestyle final, clocking a time of 56.71 seconds. Amanda Lim won her sixth medal of these Games when she finished third, just 0.02 seconds behind. Thai Natthanan Junkrajang won the gold in a time of 56.54 seconds. She also won the 200m and 400m freestyle golds, and finished second in the 800m freestyle.

Danny finished second in the men’s 100m freestyle, and bettered his personal best time by 0.01 seconds in the process. He clocked a time of 50.98. Danny’s previous best time of 50.99 was the national record going into this meet, but Clement rewrote that mark with his first-leg swim of 50.68 in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay final two days ago.

Quah Zheng Wen set his third personal best in three events when he won a bronze in the men’s 50m backstroke. His time of 26.38 seconds was also a new national under-17 record, bettering his own mark of 26.57 set in June. Zheng Wen has now won a gold, silver and bronze medal each in these Games, and will swim in the 1500m freestyle tomorrow. Rainer Ng was fourth with a a season’s best time of 26.78 seconds. He holds the national mark of 26.32.

Samantha Yeo won a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke, clocking a time of 2:37.12. She had finished fourth in this event at the previous SEA Games. Cheryl Lim, the silver medallist then, finished fourth this time, touching home 0.33 seconds after Samantha.

Palembang, Tuesday, November 15, 2011 — Joseph Schooling won the men’s 200m butterfly gold medal in overwhelming fashion. The 16-year-old led from start to finish and clocked a time of 1:56.67 to win by over three seconds. His time met the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying time of 1:56.86, which guarantees him a place in next year’s London Olympics. It is also a new national open and under-17 record, as well as a new SEA Games mark.

Joseph’s previous personal best was 1:58.95 recorded in July. The SEA Games mark was 2:00.45 set by Filipino James Walsh.

Quah Zheng Wen, 15, was no slouch in winning the silver, clocking a time of 2:00.24 to better his personal best of 2:01.93. It was also faster than the previous Games record.

Amanda Lim defended her 50m freestyle gold medal won at the last Games when she touched home first in a new Games record of 25.77s. Amanda herself set the previous Games record of 25.82 two years ago. She also holds the national record of 25.38. Mylene Ong ensured another 1-2 finish for Singapore when she won silver in a personal best of 25.89. Both swimmers were the only two in the field of eight to go sub-26 seconds, and they also went under the Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark of 26.15.

Amanda won her second gold medal of the night when she anchored the 4x100m freestyle relay quartet to victory in a time of 3:48.38. Lead-off swimmer Koh Hui Yu gave Singapore the lead midway in her back 50m and the defending champions never relinquished it. Tao Li and Mylene extended the lead before Amanda touched home for Singapore’s fourth relay gold medal in four events at these Games.

Jeremy Kevin Mathews won a bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle final, breaking his own national record with a time of 3:58.48s. His previous mark stood at 3:58.80 set in March. Pang Sheng Jun was fifth in a time of 4:00.96. Jeremy and Malaysian Kevin Yeap pulled close to race leader Sarit Tiewong at the final turn, but while the Malaysian’s final surge won him the gold ahead of the Thai, Jeremy could not sustain the pressure and had to settle for a bronze medal and a new national mark.

Zach Ong picked up a bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke, clocking a season’s best time of 56.96 seconds. Rainer Ng was fourth, also putting up his best time of the year with his 57.51s swim.

Samantha Yeo finished fourth in the women’s 100m breaststroke final with a personal best of 1:12.13. Cheryl Lim was sixth in 1:13.85. She had clocked a time of 1:13.60 in the heats, which was just 0.01s off her personal best.

Palembang, Monday, November 14, 2011 — Arren Quek clocked 23.28s to win the 50m freestyle gold. Ang Peng Siong was the last Singaporean to win the sprint 18 years ago. Russell Ong was third in 23.33s while Fauzy Triady of Indonesia was second in 23:32s.

Arren’s time was a personal best. He holds the National Under-17 record of 23.97s. Russell’s bronze was his third consecutive in this event at the Games.

Shana Lim won the 50m backstroke gold in 29.37s. She spent the longest time underwater at the start but surfaced in first place. Shana’s time was a fastest by a Singaporean this year. She holds the National Open, Under-17 and Under-14 records in this event.

The quartet of Clement Lim, Russell, Arren and Danny Yeo blitzed the field to win the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay gold handily. They clocked a time of 3:23.35, just 0.13 seconds off the national and Games record set two years ago, when non-textile swimsuits were still allowed. Clement broke Danny’s national 100m freestyle open record of 50.99s with his opening leg swim of 50.68.

Tao Li won her second gold of the Games with a win in the women’s 200m butterfly. Her time of 2:14.27 was the fastest time by a Singaporean this year. 15 year old Meagan Lim was fourth in a new personal best of 2:16.68. It was her third fourth-placed position in three finals at these Games.

Zach Ong broke his own national 200m backstroke record when he finished second in the final. He clocked a time of 2:03.06. Rainer Ng won the bronze with a season’s best of 2:05.15.

Koh Hui Yu won a bronze in the 400m freestyle, clocking 4:23.00.

Seven out of eight swimmers qualified for the evening finals.

Palembang, Sunday, November 13, 2011 — Danny Yeo equalled his personal best time of 1:51.07 to win the 200m freestyle gold. Jeremy Kevin Mathews was third, with a personal best time of 1:52.36. Jessie Lacuna of Philippines was second in 1:52.23.

Mark Chay was the last Singaporean to win the SEA Games 200m freestyle back in 2001.

“This is my first individual gold medal, so it feels really, really good,” said Danny. “Initially I wasn’t very confident of winning, but when I stood up on the blocks, I heard my teammates cheering and it really boosted my confidence. So I really want to thank everyone for cheering me on when I was swimming.”

Joseph Schooling won a bronze in the 100m butterfly, clocking a personal best 53.18 to set a new national record. Quy Phuoc Hoang of Vietnam was first in 53.07 while Glenn Sutanto of Indonesia was second in 53.17.

Tao Li won a bronze in the 200m backstroke after the Vietnamese swimmer was disqualified. Tao Li clocked 2:19.37 while Meagan Lim was fourth in 2:20.16.

Ng Jia Hao won the silver in the 50m breaststroke in a personal best time of 28.66s. Lionel Khoo was fourth in 28.89s, just 0.03 seconds off his National Under-17 record.

Koh Hui Yu, Mylene Ong, Tao Li and Amanda Lim won the 4×200 freestyle relay gold in 8:13.88.

Said Amanda Lim: “We were actually quite stressed out at first, but for tonight’s performance I think we are on form, and we will be able to perform over the next few days.”

Palamebang, Saturday, November 12, 2011 — Singapore swimmers won four gold, two silvers and one bronze.

Quah Zheng Wen, 15, won gold in the men’s 400 IM, breaking the national record by four seconds when he touched home in 4:24.33. It was also over a second below the Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark of 4:25.44. Compatriot Jeremy Kevin Mathews was second in 4:27:41. Zheng Wen broke Pang Sheng Jun’s record of 4:28.50, while also bettering his own national under-17 mark of 4:32.49. Jeremy was more than seven seconds quicker than his previous best time.

Joseph Schooling came from behind to beat Glenn Victor Sutanto to win the 50m butterfly gold in 24.06s, which is also a national and under-17 record. The 16-year-old had clocked a time of 24.67s in the heats. Jerome Teo set a new personal best of 25.17s in the final to finish fifth.

Tao Li picked up her first gold of the Games when she touched home in a new Games record of 58.84s in the 100m butterfly. It was just off the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying mark of 58.70. Meagan Lim finished fourth in a time of 1:02.57, just 0.03 seconds off her personal best.

Tao Li then teamed up with Amanda Lim, Shana Lim and Samantha Yeo to win the 4×100 medley relay gold in 4:11.27. Tao Li, who swam the butterfly leg, was trailing the Malaysian swimmer by one and a half body lengths when she jumped in but by the time she touched home, she had given final-leg swimmer Amanda Lim a three-body length lead.

Amanda also struck silver in the women’s 200m freestyle in a season’s best time of 2:03.02, while compatriot Koh Hui Yu won bronze in 2:03.47.

Go to next page for more photos and summary of results