Lionel Khoo competing in the Men's 100m Breaststroke. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Sports School, Thursday, June 14, 2012 — Singapore continued to dominate the pool in Day Two of the 1st South-east Asia (SEA) Swimming Championships as they took five out of seven gold medals on offer once again. In the process of doing so, two new national records were set while three swimmers managed to meet the Olympic “B” marks.
Danny Yeo broke the Men’s 100m freestyle record while Quah Zheng Wen rewrote the 200m Individual Medley record. Danny set a time of 50.66s to rewrite the previous record of 50.68 set by Clement Lim at last November’s SEA Games. Zheng Wen, on the other hand, clocked 2 minutes 3.79 seconds to shave 0.61s off his own record set last month at the 55th Malaysian Open.
Lionel Khoo and Jeremy Kevin Mathews both clocked personal best (PB) and Olympic “B” (OGB) timings.
Lionel started the ball rolling by winning the men’s 100 metres breaststroke title. The 17-year-old swam against foes almost six years older, but won the race with a timing of 1:02.79. It was his first time hitting the OGB mark.
Lionel, who missed the OGB timing of 1:02.92 by 0.1s in late April, commented: “I have been working on this event because my timings made me realise I had a good chance of making it. This time, I changed my style by starting [the swim] faster, using a faster stroke rate. It was something new, and I hope to do better in the coming months.”
The fast start resulted in his quickest ever 50m-split time of 29.55. It was the first time Lionel went below 1:03.00 in this event, and is also the second fastest local all-time performance, behind Parker Lam’s national record of 1:02.65 set at the Asian Championships in November 2009.
In the men’s 200m Individual Medley, Zheng Wen blitzed ahead from the start but was reeled in by Jeremy after the breaststroke leg. Both swimmers were neck-and-neck in the final lap, and Zheng Wen managed to hold on to win while Jeremy finished second with a time of 2:04.09.
Both swimmers met the OGB time of 2:04.38 and also went under Zheng Wen’s month-old national record of 2:04.40.
Danny Yeo then put up a record-breaking performance in the men’s 100m freestyle. The 22-year-old was in fourth place going into the second lap but made a comeback to finish ahead of Vietnam’s Hoang Qu Phuoc and Indonesia’s Fauzi Triady. Fellow Singaporean Russell Ong finished in fourth place with a time of 51.24.
Danny said: “I didn’t start with the record in mind, I just wanted to do my best. It’s a 100m race, so anything can happen. I think my training for the 200m definitely helped me endurance-wise. I’m very excited to see what I can do on Sunday (in the men’s 200m freestyle).”
The same three swimmers also made the podium in this event at last November’s SEA Games in Palembang. Hoang won the gold medal in 50.79 seconds while Danny, who was also fourth at the turn, clocked a then-personal best of 50.98 to win the silver medal. Triady was third in 51.36.
Singapore’s female swimmers also had a fine performance with Mylene Ong adding the 50m Butterfly gold to her 100m Freestyle gold from Day One.
The Women’s Team of Mylene Ong, Koh Hui Yu, Amanda Lim and Shan Teo capped off a fine day with a victory in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay event.
National Head Coach (Swimming) for Singapore, Ang Peng Siong, was delighted with his charges’ showing.
He said: “This is a very good build-up for the 2015 SEA Games, and helps to prepare our swimmers for the international competitions like the upcoming Olympic Games and Asian Games. We aim to improve our Olympic rankings, and keep the swimming community active as well.”
Results of the day (Singaporeans)
Women 100m Breaststroke
1. Siow Yi Ting (MAS) — 1:10.66 OGB
2. Loh Christina (MAS) — 1:11.38
3. Salubluek Chav (THA) — 1:11.54
4. Samantha Yeo (SIN) — 1:12.87
5. Cheryl Lim Xin Jing (SIN) — 1:13.31 (PB)
Men 100m Breaststroke
1. Khoo Chien Yin Lionel (SIN) — 1:02.79 (PB, OGB)
2. Yap See Tuan (MAS) — 1:03.67
3. Dennis J Tiwa (INA) — 1:04.48
4 Lam Wei Xiong Parker (SIN) — 1:04.82
Women 400m Freestyle
1. Khoo Cai Lin (MAS) — 4:19.06
2. Raina Saumi Grahana (INA) — 4:20.16
3. Sriphanomthorn Benjaporn (THA) — 4:24.12
5. Marina Chan Shi Min (SIN) — 4:33.90
6. Rachel Marjorie Tseng (SIN) (SIN) — 4:35.05
Men 200m Individual Medley
1. Quah, Zheng Wen (SIN) — 2:03.79 (National Open record, OGB)
2. Jeremy Kevin Mathews (SIN) — 2:04.09 (PB, OGB)
3. Ian James Barr (MAS) — 2:07.14
Women 50m Butterfly
1. Ong Chui Bin Mylene (SIN) — 27.72
2. Jasmine Alkhal (PHI) — 28.02
3. Liew Marellyn (MAS) — 28.30
Men 100m Freestyle
1. Yeo Kai Quan Danny (SIN) — 50.66 (National Open record)
2. Hoang Quy Phuoc(VIE) — 50.80
3. Fauzi Triady (INA) — 51.11
Women 400m Freestyle Relay
1. Singapore — 3:49.25
– Ong Chui Bin Mylene 57.29
– Koh Hui Yu 56.87
– Lim Xiang Qi Amanda 56.83
– Teo Jing Wen Shan 58.26
2. Indonesia — 3:52.72
– Margono Enny Susilawati
– Patricia Yoshita
– Raina Saumi Grahana
– Ressa Kaniadewi
3. Malaysia — 4:09.52
– Kong Erika
– Liew Marellyn
– Hii Siew Siew
– Khoo Cai Lin
For more photos, go to the next page.
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