Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan and Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports
Theresa Goh in action during the women’s 200m freestyle event. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
OCBC Aquatic Centre, Tuesday, December 8, 2015 — At the 8th ASEAN Para Games, Singapore’s Theresa Goh bagged the gold medals in the SB4 100m breaststroke, S2-S5 50m freestyle, S5 200m freestyle, S1-S5 100m freestyle and S5 50m butterfly.
Goh clocked times of 2:02.02 minutes, 49.41 seconds, 3:38.04 minutes, 1:45.51 seconds and 1:03.92 minutes respectively, dominating her field in almost every event.
She also smashed her previous Games Records for the 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle by more than 13 seconds. Both previously set in 2014, the Games Record for the 100m breaststroke stood at 2:18.20 minutes while that of the 200m freestyle stood at 3:51.40 minutes.
Goh’s only bronze medal was in the S2-S5 50m backstroke in which she posted 1:01.73 minutes, behind compatriot Yip Pin Xiu who broke the World Record for her category and Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Den.
“I’ve been saying since the first day that I’ve been given certain strategies for each race so it was never really about the medal,” said Goh midway through the Games. “It was always about my timing and today for the 200m freestyle I did what I was expected to do by my coach, so it’s so far so good.”
“When I came on the scene I was really new and I didn’t know what to expect. But the feelings now are still the same as I don’t go into my race thinking that I have to win. It was always about my timing and I think carrying it through to the other races until now helps me a lot because I don’t worry about my opponents,” she added.
Goh juggled seven events over a span of five days. When asked about how she felt after the 200m freestyle, she replied: “Fatigue has been setting in since the second day. I’ve been trying to rest up and recover properly. I keep saying that I can’t wait for the races to be over because I’m so tired but I really don’t want it to end because it’s so awesome. I really hope the support will continue after the Games.”
“Honestly it never gets tiring because it’s different every time I win in different environments,” said Goh on her winning streak.
“I always try not to think about my winning streak because I never know when my opponents are going to overtake me,” she added. “I really don’t want to think about complacency. We’ve all trained really hard for this and I don’t want to take any credit away from them. They’ve been great opponents and I think we’re all swimming our own races in the end.”
On her 200m Individual Medley (IM) in which she finished in fifth place, Goh explained: “I was racing against five different classes and realistically I wasn’t expecting the same kind of results from the past couple of days.”
She continued: “We set goals before the race like to make sure I do my butterfly and backstroke leg a bit conservatively and then to come back faster for the breaststroke which I did do in the end. I did a pretty fast time for my breaststroke leg as well. Goals were set and goals were achieved, so overall I’m really happy about it.”
Next up for Goh will be the Rio Paralympics in 2016. “The team is looking forward to the next nine months of training and I hope whatever happens the support will continue despite whatever our results are,” she said.
“It’s pretty much on track. Based on our performance here, the little bits and pieces like technique and recovery has fallen into place,” concluded Goh.
Women’s SB4 100m Breaststroke Results
1st Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 2:02.02 (GR)
2nd Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 2:44.02
3rd Pornpimon Sutthichittanon (Thailand) – 3:01.20
4th Nguyen Thi Den (Vietnam) – 3:05.01
Women’s S2-S5 50m Freestyle Results
1st Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 49.41s
2nd Yip Pin Xiu (Singapore) – 1:01.23
3rd Nguyen Thi Den (Vietnam) – 1:03.45
4th Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 1:05.61
Women’s S5 200m Freestyle Results
1st Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 3:38.04 (GR)
2nd Nguyen Thi Den (Vietnam) – 4:46.35
3rd Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 4:47.64
4th Pornpimon Sutthichittanon (Thailand) – 5:01.02
Women’s S1-S5 100m Freestyle Results
1st Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 1:45.51
2nd Yip Pin Xiu (Singapore) – 2:11.86
3rd Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 2:18.50
4th Nguyen Thi Den (Vietnam) – 2:20.01
5th Pornpimon Sutthichittanon (Thailand) – 2:24.77
Women’s S5 50m Butterfly Results
1st Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 1:03.92
2nd Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 1:28.40
3rd Pornpimon Sutthichittanon (Thailand) – 1:29.84
Women’s S2-S5 50m Backstroke Results
1st Yip Pin Xiu (Singapore) – 1:01.61 (WR for S2 class)
2nd Nguyen Thi Den (Vietnam) – 1:01.63
3rd Goh Rui Si Theresa (Singapore) – 1:01.73
4th Danh Thi My Thanh (Vietnam) – 1:05.69
More photos next page
Leave A Comment