Singapura Finance 47th SNAG Swimming C’ships: Ashley Lim grabs five golds; shatters two more records on Day 2

Story by Dylan Chua and Teo Yun Teng/Red Sports. Photos by Soh Jun Wei and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.

Ashley Lim after the 200m backstroke timed finals at the 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships. She clocked a time of 2:40.14 to break the meet record by more than six seconds. (Photo 1 © Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports)

OCBC Aquatic Centre, Saturday, March 12, 2016 — Ashley Lim, 11, continued her strong showing in the pool with five more wins and two record-breaking performances on Day 2 of the Singapura Finance 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships.

The swimmer from Singapore Swimming Club touched home in a meet record time of 2 minutes 40.14 seconds in the 200m backstroke timed finals, smashing Audrey Lee’s year-old record of 2:46.61 by more than six seconds.

When quizzed about her record-breaking performance, Ashley said, “In the record-breaking swim, I was quite happy as I did my best. I wanted to go below 2:40 but I just did 2:40.”

Ashley took to the pool again shortly after for the 100m butterfly event and comfortably won the gold medal in a time of 1:10.97, narrowly missing the 1:10.44 meet record set by Alethea Toh on March 14, 2009.

Ashley felt she could have done more. “I think I can do better. I actually wanted to go below 1:10. It’s acceptable but not very good,” she commented.

Ashley clocked 2:37.08 in the 200m Individual Medley, the final race of the morning session, to win her fifth event of the meet. Her timing was just 0.04 seconds shy of Charity Lien’s meet record of 2:37.04 set on March 15, 2014.

She carried her good form into the afternoon session and brought her gold medal count to seven with one day of competition to go.

She first won the 50m butterfly gold in 32.58s, then smashed her third record of the meet in the 400m freestyle to win in 4:48.01.

Ashley has five more events on her plate at these championships. At last year’s edition, she won nine gold medals and was named the most valuable female swimmer of the meet.

Three other female swimmers set meet records. Chen Xing Tong broke Jobey Koh’s year-old mark of 41.28s in the 50m butterfly for 8 year olds, clocking a time of 40.68. Lynette Some, 9, lowered Charity Lien’s 100m breaststroke record of 1:31.02 by 1.29 seconds, and Melanie Chong’s 1:25.44 showing in the 10 year olds age group of the same event took down national swimmer Samantha Yeo’s mark by exactly half a second. It had stood since 2007.

Other notable performers of the day included Naomi Ong, 10, and Ni Putu Pande Primasari, 9. Both swimmers clinched top spot in the 100m butterfly for their respective age groups, before Primasari, an Indonesian, added the 200m individual medley gold to her name. Naomi also won the 50m butterfly in the afternoon session, and both swimmers have now won three gold medals each in the meet.

The championships continue on March 13, 8.30am, at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

Girls results – Day 2 (Morning Session)

Girls 11 year olds 200m backstroke
1st Ashley Lim – 2:40.14 (Meet Record)
2nd Clarissa Kwa – 2:47.43
3rd Kwok Sin Yu – 2:51.07

Girls 12 year olds 200m backstroke
1st Carmen Weiler – 2:37.76
2nd Bonnie Yeo – 2:37.81
3rd Charla Tan – 2:38.95

Girls 8 year olds 100m butterfly
1st Chen Xing Tong – 1:37.86
2nd Ye Qin Wen – 1:40.86
3rd Vivienne Chew – 1:44.62

Girls 9 year olds 100m butterfly
1st Primasari Ni Putu Pande – 1:25.40
2nd Charlotte Chiang – 1:28.10
3rd Emily Ngoi – 1:28.72

Girls 10 year olds 100m butterfly
1st Naomi Ong – 1:18.70
2nd Athena Chang – 1:24.52
3rd Kaitlyn Leong – 1:25.52

Girls 11 year olds 100m butterfly
1st Ashley Lim – 1:10.97
2nd Tricia Yau – 1:14.98
3rd Jessiree Kwok – 1:15.52

Girls 12 year olds 100m butterfly
1st Yeo Chiok Sze – 1:10.39
2nd Rae Low – 1:11.09
3rd Clydi chan – 1:11.64

Girls 9 year olds 200m Individual Medley
1st Ni Putu Pande Primasari – 2:57.78
2nd Lynette Some – 3:04.13
3rd Jobey Koh – 3:05.85

Girls 10 year olds 200m Individual Medley
1st Melanie Chong – 2:52.66
2nd Naomi Ong – 2:52.92
3rd Ricole Ong – 2:57.07

Girls 11 year olds 200m Individual Medley
1st Ashley Lim – 2:37.08
2nd Jessiree Kwok – 2:42.60
3rd Rachael Tay – 2:43.28

Girls 12 year olds 200m Individual Medley
1st Clydi Chan – 2:34.95
2nd Claresa Liau – 2:35.09
3rd Bonnie Yeo – 2:36.09

Girls results – Day 2 (Afternoon Session)

Girls 8 year olds 50m butterfly
1st Chen Xing Tong – 40.68 seconds (meet record)
2nd Ye Qin Wen – 41.19
3rd Chew En Vivienne – 42.92

Girls 9 year olds 50m butterfly
1st Some Xuan Hui Lynette – 37.86 seconds
2nd Chiang Ya Yuan Charlotte – 38.04
3rd Ni Puta Pande Primasari – 38.25

Girls 10 year old 50m butterfly
1st Ong Rui Ern Naomi – 34.92 seconds
2nd Athena Shannessa Chang – 36.15
3rd Payton Foster – 36.57

Girls 11 year olds 50m butterfly
1st Lim Yi-Xuan Ashley – 32.58 seconds
2nd Dhami Palak Dhami – 33.13
3rd Kwok Jie Ning Jessiree – 33.60

Girls 12 year olds 50m butterfly
1st Yeo Chiok Sze – 30.72 seconds
2nd Tan Shang-Eve – 31.09
3rd Clydi Chan – 32.27

Girls 8 year olds 100m breaststroke
1st Chew En Vivienne – 1:34.38
2nd Ye Qin Wen – 1:50.44
3rd Chen Xing Tong 1:51.13

Girls 9 year olds 100m breaststroke
1st Some Xuan Hui Lynette – 1:29.73 (meet record)
2nd Ni Putu Pande Lisa Primasari – 1:38.06
3rd Koh Rui Shan Jobey – 1:39.58

Girls 10 year olds 100m breaststroke
1st Chong Melanie – 1:25.44 (meet record)
2nd Ong Qian Yi Ricole – 1:28.38
3rd Sin Ying Jie – 1:34.75

Girls 11 year olds 100m breaststroke
1st Yee Avril – 1:21.42
2nd Kwok Jie Ning Jessiree – 1:21.90
3rd Tay Wei Hui Rachael – 1:22.45

Girls 12 year olds 100m breaststroke
1st Liau Jing Xuan Claresa – 1:19.04
2nd Bonnie Yeo – 1:20.02
3rd Tan Rae’en Hannah – 1:20.82

Girls 11 year olds 400m freestyle
1st Lim Yi-Xuan Ashley – 4:48.01 (Meet Record)
2nd Stephanie Clarissa Kwa – 5:12.80
3rd Avril Yee – 5:13.41

Girls 12 year olds 400m freestyle
1st Clydi Chan – 4:50.67
2nd Regina Sanchez Pulido – 4:57.94
3rd Tan Song Ci Charla – 4:59.29

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