Youth Olympic Swimming: Cheryl Lim and Rainer Ng miss out on finals

By Ng Enna/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Sports School, Sunday, August 15, 2010 – Singapore’s Cheryl Lim and Rainer Ng failed to qualify for the finals of the women’s 50m breaststroke and men’s 100m backstroke respectively.

Cheryl finished last in her heat with a time of 33.65s. With an overall 15th placing, Cheryl was unable to secure a place in the final but bettered her previous personal best (PB) of 34.19s.

“I didn’t have any expectations because competition was really tough and I didn’t expect to get past the heats so I was really surprised to get through to the semi-final,” said an elated Cheryl.

Cheryl was evidently pleased with her own performance after achieving new personal bests in both races.

She commented: “I think it (the race) was really good because even though I was last but it was my personal best and I reached my personal bests twice today. I didn’t expect that either so it was really, really good.”

In the men’s 100m backstroke, Rainer was greeted by loud applause from the Singapore crowd when he was introduced to the audience.

Starting in lane six, Rainer was the second off the blocks after his Chinese counterpart, He Jianbin. However, Rainer fell to fourth at the turn and eventually finished fifth in his heat.

With a time of 57.44s, Rainer was placed 9th overall and missed out on the final by a mere 0.03s. Rainer set the national record in the 100m backstroke of 56.73s at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.

“During the heat, it felt really good for me because I felt really smooth in the water in the morning. But in the evening, I was tightening up towards the last part. I did a better time in the semi-final than in the morning so I can’t ask for much because it was my season’s best time,” commented Rainer. The timing is also the fastest set by a Singaporean this year.

Despite a better performance, Rainer was not planning to be complacent for the upcoming races.

He said, “For the first day, I think that I did okay but hopefully I can improve in the days to come. I think I need to learn how to relax myself before the race because my body tends to tighten up when I get too nervous and I won’t be able to swim properly.”

In the men’s 400m freestyle final, Dai Jun from China lead throughout to finish first with a time of 3min 50.91s. Chad la Clos followed closely behind throughout the race and took the second place for the Republic of South Africa with a time of 3min 51.37s. Christian Quintero from Venezuela managed a podium finish in third with a time 3min 53.33s.

Kaitlyn Jones from United States of America (USA) emerged victorious in the women’s 200m individual medley with a time of 2min 14.53s. Kristina Kochetkova from Russia brought home the silver medal with a time of 2min 15.13s and Barbora Zavadova had to settle for bronze with a time of 2min 15.36s.

Once again, the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay kept spectators at the edge of their seats. All eight countries, except Hong Kong, fielded male swimmers in the first and last leg of the relay.

Australia, China and Hong Kong were neck-and-neck during the last changeover but Yvette Kong from Hong Kong eventually lost out to her male counterparts. This left Australia and China to fight it out and all eyes were on Justin James from Australia and He Jianbin from China.

Justin appeared to have a chance at catching up with Jianbin but the latter ultimately touched home 0.35s ahead of Justin to bring home the second gold medal for China with a time of 3min 31.34s. Australia had to settle for silver with a time of 3min 31.69s while France powered home in the last leg to take the bronze with a time of 3min 35.90s.

More swimming events would take place tomorrow morning at the Singapore Sports School from 9.30am.