Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

SEA Games Athletics

Veronica Shanti Pereira runs the anchor leg of the women’s 4x400m relay final. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Thursday, June 11, 2015 — The quartet of T Piriyah, Dipna Lim-Prasad, Goh Chui Ling and Shanti Veronica Pereira created history when they clocked 3 minutes and 40.58 seconds to smash the national record by a little over three seconds in the women’s 4x400m relay final at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The previous National Record of 3:43.85 was set by Glory Barnabas, Maimoon Azlan, Lee Tai Jong and Chee Swee Lee at the 1974 Asian Games in Iran. Since then it had remained untouched for 41 years, until this year’s edition of the SEA Games on home soil.

On the new national record, Shanti said: “It feels great because that was our main goal coming into the 4x400m relay this time… we had the four best runners here and we really aimed to break it.”

“We’ve been gunning for it for a long time so when we found out that we broke it, we started screaming,” Dipna added. “It was quite an emotional moment because we had been gunning for it for like at least two years, so to finally break it is really a milestone for us.”

“I think all of us really ran our hearts out. We saw each other really pushing ourselves to the limit so I think watching each of our teammates run their best motivated us to run even better for the team,” commented Dipna.

Third runner Chui Ling found the most motivation in the Singaporean supporters. “I thought that the home crowd was very encouraging when we first stepped into the stadium. We heard the roars, the screams and the support. Then, we were reminded to run for the crowd,” she said.

This year’s showing also saw the girls in contention for a medal. Piriyah started by placing the team in fourth place as she trailed Malaysia by 10m. Handing the baton over to Dipna and subsequently Chui Ling, the gap between Singapore and Malaysia gradually narrowed. Anchor leg Shanti Pereira then brought the stadium to life as she came close to overtaking Malaysia at the second bend, but eventually hit the wall and lost the bronze.

Speaking on the close bronze, Dipna explained: “We didn’t really care about the medal because our main goal was to break the national record. The medal would be something like a bonus, whereas the national record was the most meaningful to us. If we had gotten a medal but no record, it wouldn’t be as meaningful.”

The team is already looking to further lower the record in the near future. “We have a young team and we’ve been improving non-stop so hopefully we can keep doing so,” Dipna remarked.

The Singapore team had come close in the 2013 SEA Games when they clocked 3:44.80 then, a mere 0.95s short of the national record. To finally have been able to do so on home ground was “extra special” for them.

Taking the gold and finishing in record time was Vietnam with 3:31.46. Silver went to the Thais, who clocked 3:36.82 while Malaysia rounded off the podium in a season’s best of 3:39.10.

In the men’s 4x400m relay final, the Singapore team consisting of Tan Zong Yang, Seow Yeong Yang, Kenneth Khoo and Raymond Lee trailed throughout to eventually cross the finish line in fifth place overall (3:17.44).

Thailand snatched the gold with 3:06.81 while the Philippines settled for silver just 0.03 behind. The bronze went to the Vietnamese, who had clocked a time of 3:08.48.

The men’s 4x400m relay Games record held by Thailand stands at 3:05.47, and remains unbeaten since 1995.

Women’s 4x400m Relay Final Results
1st Vietnam – 3:31.46 (GR)
2nd Thailand – 3:36.82
3rd Malaysia – 3:39.10 (SB)
4th Singapore – 3:40.58 (NR)

Men’s 4x400m Relay Final Results
1st Thailand – 3:06.81
2nd Philippines – 3:06.84
3rd Vietnam – 3:08.48
4th Malaysia – 3:10.66 (SB)
5th Singapore – 3:17.44

More photos next page