Hands up if you think the disqualification was unfair. The men’s 4x200m Freestyle relay team suffer another disqualification in Guangzhou. (Photo courtesy of SSC)
China, Monday, November 15, 2010 — For the second straight multi-sport Games, the Singapore men’s 4×200 metres Freestyle relay team did well enough to qualify for the final, but failed to register an official result yet again.
The quartet of Danny Yeo, Joshua Lim, Pang Sheng Jun and Clement Lim clocked 7 minutes 32.29 seconds in the morning heats of the third day of the Asian Games swimming competition, which was the fourth fastest time.
It was less than two seconds from the national record of 7:30.73 set at last year’s South East Asian Games, and the quartet looked good to break that mark in the final.
Danny, who led off with a 1:53.13 leg, had already clocked a pair of sub 1:52s in the individual event here in Guangzhou. Third swimmer Sheng Jun was a massive 1.6 seconds quicker than his individual best with his 1:52.32 split, and Clement, who anchored the team with his 1:52.75 leg, was capable of a quicker split by a good 0.5 to 1 second.
Danny got Singapore off to a brilliant start in the final when he completed his leg in 1:51.93, the fastest lead-off split by a Singaporean in the 4x200m Freestyle relay final. It got better when Sheng Jun swam his four laps in a stunning 1:51.47, the fastest relay split time ever by a Singaporean.
After Joshua’s 1:54.28 leg, Clement took to the pool with Team Singapore in fifth place. It was status quo with 100m to go, which was when Clement overtook his Hong Kong counterpart and maintained the fourth position all the way to the finish. His 1:52.02 anchor leg gave Singapore a collective time of 7:29.70, and their first national record of the Games – or so it seemed.
The official results on the Games website reflected that Singapore were disqualified. According to an administrator on Team Singapore’s Facebook page, judges had ruled that Danny had false-started.
The official results that was posted originally – with details such as reaction times and 50m split times – did not indicate so. They were later taken off, and no such details on Singapore’s quartet are available now.
This disqualification follows last month’s debacle at the Commonwealth Games when Singapore’s application for the men’s 4x200m Freestyle relay final was handed in too late.
It was an otherwise another good day for Singapore’s swimmers. Either personal bests or advancement to finals were achieved in all individual events.
Danny, who broke his 200m Freestyle PB twice yesterday, sprinted to a 24.00s finish in the 50m Freestyle, another personal best.
Andrew Lim rewrote his 100m Breaststroke PB of 1:05.22 when he clocked 1:05.19. This follows his 50m Breaststroke PB yesterday.
Singapore’s premier backstrokers, Rainer Ng and Zach Ong, both qualified for the 200m Backstroke final. The pair went sub-2:05 in the heats – with the former breaking his PB – and then again in the final to finish sixth and seventh respectively.
Rainer finished in 2:04.06, another PB, while Zach, the national record holder in 2:03.27, was 0.22 seconds behind, a season’s best for him.
National 400m Freestyle record holder Lynette Lim qualified for the final with the heats’ sixth best time of 4:22.28, and then improved that to 4:21.52 to finish in eighth.
In the women’s 50m Backstroke, Tao Li broke her PB of 29.02s when she completed her heat in 28.91 seconds. She is only the second Singaporean to break the 29-second barrier. Shana Lim, the holder of the national record of 28.58, was timed at 29.14 in her heat.
Both qualified for the final, where they finished sixth and seventh respectively.
In day four of the swimming competiton, Team Singapore will be represented by Rainer, Zach (100m Backstroke), Clement, Danny (400m Freestyle), Sheng Jun, Nicholas Tan (50m Butterfly), Amanda Lim, Mylene Ong (50m Freestyle) and Samantha Yeo (100m Breaststroke).
Rainer, Nicholas and Amanda are the national record holders in their respective events, while Samantha will have another shot at the under-14 record, which she owns.
The men’s 4x100m Freestyle and the women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay teams will also be in action.
Results
Men’s 50m Freestyle Heats:
Danny Yeo: 24.00 (19th, personal best)
Clement Lim: 24.12 (22nd)
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Heats:
Lionel Khoo: 1:04.36 (13th)
Andrew Lim: 1:05.19 (18th, personal best)
Men’s 200m Backstroke
Heats:
Zach Ong: 2:04.89 (7th, season’s best)
Rainer Ng: 2:04.95 (8th, personal best)
Final:
Rainer Ng: 2:04.06 (6th, personal best)
Zach Ong: 2:04.28 (7th, season’s best)
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle relay
Heats:
Danny Yeo (1:53.13), Joshua Lim (1:54.09), Pang Sheng Jun (1:52.32), Clement Lim (1:52.75): 7:32.29 (4th)
Final:
Danny Yeo, Pang Sheng Jun, Joshua Lim, Clement Lim: Disqualified
Women’s 400m Freestyle
Heats:
Lynette Lim: 4:22.28 (6th)
Final:
Lynette Lim: 4:21.52 (8th)
Women’s 50m Backstroke
Heats:
Tao Li: 28.91 (5th, personal best)
Shana Lim: 29.14 (6th)
Final:
Tao Li: 29.12 (6th)
Shana Lim: 29.19 (7th)
I read somewhere that Singapore was DQ not for false-start, but for moving on the blocks before start. Very unfortunate but nonetheless, great swim by Singapore
My heart breaks for the four boys, who swam an amazing race. Their time of 7:27.70 would have been more than 6 seconds faster than the previous fastest time clocked using textile suits (2005 SEA Games). Sheng Jun’s time in particular was outstanding. Even though officials disregard this result, to me, this is a National Record till the boys break it again next time round. It is bullshit to disqualify for “movement”, which is not even an early changeover.