By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports

SEA Swimming Championships 2014

Lionel Khoo celebrates after finishing first in 28.93 seconds in the men’s 50m breaststroke final at the 2nd SEA Swimming Championships. (Photo 1 courtesy of Adrian Seetho for Sport Singapore)

OCBC Aquatic Centre, Sunday, June 22, 2014 – The final day of swimming at the 2nd South-east Asian (SEA) Swimming Championships saw Singapore secure two one-two finishes in the sprint events.

Amanda Lim and Nur Marina Chan finished as the top swimmers in the 50 metres freestyle before Lionel Khoo and Darrin Lam repeated the feat in the 50 metres breaststroke.

In the 50m freestyle final, Amanda Lim claimed gold in 25.74 seconds while compatriot Nur Marina Chan clocked a new personal best and qualified for the Asian Games B timing in 26s flat.

Lim, who holds the meet record in this event, led from start to finish to defend her title. However, her compatriot did not have it that easy. 16-year-old Chan, who is a multiple medallist at this meet, was trailing at the half-way mark before finishing strongly to touch home before Thailand’s Natthanan Junkrajang, who finished 0.35 seconds behind.

“I’m very happy with my swim because I can see my progress since the start of the year,” said 21-year-old Lim. “Every swim is getting faster. Things are looking good for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.”

For Chan, it was a break-out meet as she finished the competition with one gold and three silver individual medals together with three silver medals in the relays.

“I’m really happy with my performance at this meet,” declared Chan. “Most of my medals came as a surprise. To break a lot of my personal best timings is something I’m really happy about too. This meet has really helped me improve as it gave me the chance to swim with the top swimmers.”

Following the success of their teammates, Lionel Khoo and Darrin Lam immediately equalled the result with another brilliant showing in the 50m breaststroke. Khoo, who holds the SEA Swimming Championships record in this event, finished first in 28.83 seconds, while Lam clocked a time of 29.40s to take silver. Thailand’s Matjiur Rakomyos was third in 29.45s.

In other events, Teo Zhen Ren finished third in the 1500m freestyle, clocking a time of 16 minutes 4.70 seconds while the men’s 4×100 medley relay team finished second to Indonesia in 3:49.38.

More photos next page