Story by Rachel Yip, Rebecca Yip, Nicole Lum and Nicholina Chua/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei and Matthew Lau/Red Sports
Quah Zheng Wen, Clement Lim, Joseph Schooling and Danny Yeo set a new Games record of 3:19.59 in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. (Photo 1 © Matthew Lau/Red Sports)
OCBC Aquatic Centre, Tuesday, June 9 2015 — After last night’s six-gold haul, Team Singapore had a slightly tamer day at the pool, bagging four gold and two silver medals to bring their total so far to 15 gold, 11 silver and four bronze. The team have now surpassed the 11 golds collected at the 2013 Games.
Wonderboy Joseph Schooling gave Team Singapore a splendid start to the evening in the men’s 100m butterfly. He emerged after the turn almost a full body length ahead of his competitor and never looked in danger of relinquishing his lead. He eventually clocked 52.13 seconds to set a new Games record. Compatriot Dylan Koo finished fifth in a new personal best (PB) of 55.01s.
“My 100m butterfly was a little slower than I expected. But I went out 23.9s (for the first 50m) – that’s the fastest that I’ve done so far,” said Joseph on his sixth gold performance.
“Now I just have to get more rest as I’ve done six events in three days and that’s a lot. Hopefully I can win both my events tomorrow and finish off that relay,” he added.
Games debutant Dylan attributed his strong performance to the strong home support: “It is definitely very exhilarating. When I came out (of the pool), I could hear everybody cheering, everyone shouting my name, everyone cheering for Singapore. It definitely feels very good. My friends, family, and relatives are all here to support me as well. So that is definitely a major boost for me, in terms of how well I can perform.”
Joseph then set the stage for the men to break the 4x100m freestyle relay record in style. They obliterated their own 2013 Games record, returning a time of 3:19.59. The time also bettered the national record of 3:20.98, which was set by the same quartet at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year.
He clocked 49.74s to give the team a one-body length lead after the first leg. Second and third swimmers Danny and Clement continued to build on the lead, eventually giving anchor swimmer Quah Zheng Wen a lead of more than three body lengths. They won the race by almost six seconds.
“The home crowd really gave us the encouragement that we needed,” commented Zheng Wen as he spoke about the tremendous support that the swimmers have been receiving in the past four days of competition. “I think the cheering and everything really fired us up to swim our hearts out.”
“I think it really means a lot to us and probably a bit more since it’s Clement’s last relay. So that really struck us a bit more as we ended things off for him on a high note,” added Joseph. “With the national record and a second gold medal (for the men’s relay), I think we did all the right things.”
In the men’s 400m individual medley (IM), Zheng Wen joined the ranks of multiple 400m individual medley (IM) gold medallists Ratapong Sirisanont and Miguel Molina with his third consecutive victory in the event.
He led by three body lengths after the first two legs, but reined it in the final 200m to finish just over a body length ahead of compatriot Pang Sheng Jun. His winning time of 4:23.50 was just 0.30s off Ratapong’s 12-year-old record of 4:23.20.
Despite the win, Zheng Wen was not entirely satisfied. “I think it wasn’t one of my best races in the 400 IM. But nonetheless it was a gold for Singapore and we finished in one-two position so I think that was good and overall, we (the team) had a pretty good performance at swimming tonight,” he explained.
With the 400 IM victory, Zheng Wen has achieved Singapore’s 51st gold medal. This result surpasses Singapore’s best ever SEA Games gold medal haul of 50 in 1993. On that, Zheng Wen said: “I’m definitely really proud to have the honor of making Singapore’s history. I’m just glad that I could be a part of it especially with some of these guys who will be retiring… it’s just really amazing that we are making waves for Singapore together.”
Sheng Jun, who finished joint-6th at the last Games, bettered his PB by over three seconds to win silver. He finished in a time of 4:24.81.
“It definitely feels good. It being on home ground feels a lot different and I felt that I needed to do well because there was so much support from the Singaporeans,” said Sheng Jun, whose individual medal is also his first after narrowly missing the podium in the 2009, 2011 and 2013 SEA Games. “All I knew was that as long as I did my best it would be a really good swim.”
Sheng Jun was trailing in third, and later fourth place, until he powered through the breaststroke and freestyle to overtake Thailand’s Sangkhawat Jiarapong and Vietnam’s Tran Duy Khoi. “After the butterfly leg, I knew I was third. During every turn, I could literally hear all the Singaporeans shouting so loudly, and swimmers don’t usually hear the cheers from the crowd while they’re in the pool. So I knew that I couldn’t let Singapore down, and that gave me the extra motivation to go harder,” he explained.
Earlier, Tao Li swam to Singapore’s 50th gold of these Games in the women’s 100m backstroke. She was 1.09 seconds ahead of the rest at the turn, and finished in a time of 1:02.67. Hannah Quek, our other representative in the event, swam a 1:05.83 to finish sixth, just 0.52s off her PB of 1:05.31.
Speaking of her gold, Tao Li said, “This year is SG50 and I won the 50th gold medal. What an honour and I’m so proud that I could achieve that.”
On all the attention being on Schooling, Tao Li commented, “I don’t care about the headlines. As long as I win the gold for Singapore and make Singapore proud, that’s what I’m here for.”
In the women’s 200m butterfly, Quah Ting Wen was second after the first lap behind Vietnamese sensation Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, but dropped back further after the second and third laps. She eventually clawed her way back to second place in a time of 2:14.50, just under a second off her personal best (PB) of 2:13.59, 3.38s behind Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, whose time of 2:11.12 is a new Games record. Teammate Tan Jing-E finished eighth in a time of 2:18.95.
Her silver was probably little consolation for the fact that she failed to qualify for the 200m freestyle final. The Games record holder finished ninth overall in the heats in the morning. Christie Chue, Singapore’s only finalist in the 200m freestyle final, finished the race in fifth with a time of 2:04.30. The race was won by Nguyen, who broke Ting Wen’s Games record with a time of 1:59.27.
Ting Wen, who was visibly upset when speaking about her failure to qualify for the 200m freestyle final, said, “I was very disappointed this morning about failing to qualify. Very unexpected and it was a great miscalculation on my part. Very grave consequences, and I am so sorry for disappointing anyone, most of all, myself.”
“It’s a learning experience. I have actually never swam 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle on the same day in a big meet like that. So it was an experience. Not a good one, but it’s a learning experience I can take things away from,” she added.
Day 5 at the OCBC Aquatic Centre will see Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen go head to head twice in one evening – first in the 50m butterfly, and then later on in the 200m IM.
This 50m butterfly, which last featured at the 2011 Games, saw Joseph set a new Games record of 24.06s then. He has since lowered his PB to 23.43s, which made him the joint-Asian record holder until Yu Hexin lowered it to 23.37s, and should be up for another Games record. With Zheng Wen also in the fray, Singapore will be looking for another one-two finish. But it’s often anyone’s race in a 50m event and Glenn Victor Sutanto, Triady Fauzi Sidiq and Hoang Quy Phuoc could just show up and crash their party.
In their second face-off, the men’s 200m IM, they are likely to come up against stiff competition from Indonesian Triady Fauzi Sidiq, Filipino Jessie Khing Lacuna and Vietnamese Tran Duy Khoi. Based on seed times, it looks like only the Indonesian will be a serious threat, but the latter two could spring a surprise yet.
In the 50m breaststroke, Roanne Ho and Samantha Yeo will be looking for their second podium finish in just as many events. But they will have to contend with the likes of the Malaysian duo Erika Kong and 100m breaststroke winner Phee Jinq En, as well as Sports School alumni Phiangkhwan Pawapotako, first.
Other Singaporeans taking to the pool tomorrow are:
Men’s 1500m freestyle – Teo Zhen Ren and Benedict Boon
Women’s 400m freestyle – Rachel Tseng and Christie Chue
Women’s 4x100m medley relay
Day 4 (Finals only)
Women’s 200m butterfly: Quah Ting Wen 2:14.50 (Silver), Tan Jing-E 2:18.95 (8th)
Men’s 100m butterfly: Joseph Schooling 52.13s (Gold, Games Record), Dylan Koo 55.01s (5th, PB)
Women’s 100m backstroke: Tao Li 1:02.67 (Gold), Hannah Quek 1:05.83 (6th)
Men’s 400m IM: Quah Zheng Wen 4:23.50 (Gold), Pang Sheng Jun 4:24.81 (Silver, PB)
Women’s 200m freestyle: Christie Chue 2:04.30 (5th)
Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay: Joseph Schooling, Danny Yeo, Clement Lim, Quah Zheng Wen 3:19.59 (Gold, Games Record, National Open Record)
More photos on the next page
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