Story by Dylan Chua and Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports. Photos by Chua Kai Yun and Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Ashley Lim swimming in the women’s 800 freestyle event at the 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships. She finished first among the 11-12 year olds to claim her 13th victory of the meet. (Photo 1 © Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports)
OCBC Aquatic Centre, Wednesday, March 16, 2016 — Ashley Lim maintained her perfect record at the Singapura Finance 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships with another stellar swim in the 800 metres freestyle.
Ashley, 11, touched home in 9 minutes 45.79 seconds, defeating her closest competitor, Clydi Chan, 12, who finished with a time of 9:47.17. The swimmers raced in timed finals, after which all competitors were ranked according to their age group. Ashley and Clydi belonged to the 11-12 year olds.
She was in a buoyant mood after her latest victory. “It was quite a good swim and I’m pretty happy with it because I hit the target my coach set for me. Even though it was tough at the end where I felt I couldn’t do it, I just kept pushing on,” the Singapore Swimming Club representative said.
The 800m freestyle was Ashley’s final event of the meet. The Nanyang Primary student clinched gold medals in all 13 events she competed in at the 2016 edition. More impressively, her win streak at the meet now stands at a phenomenal 37 races since her 2013 debut.
In other notable results, Gan Ching Hwee, who turns 13 in July, shattered the meet record for the 800m freestyle for 13-14 year olds, finishing in a time of 9:07.98. The previous mark was 9:31.33 set by Genevieve Lye last year.
It also put Ching Hwee within sight of Quah Ting Wen’s national under-14 record of 9:02.20, set at the 2005 South-east Asian Games in Manila.
Rachel Tseng finished fourth with a time of 8:57.79 for the same event in the 18 years and over category, but managed to break Bianca Goetz’s meet record of 9:16.46 which was set on March 19, 2013.
Two regional veterans made up the podium finishers. Three-time South-east Asian Games winner Khoo Cai Lin, 28, finished first in 8:53.53. Thailand’s Nattanan Jungkrajang, 30, who came in second behind the Malaysian at the 2011 SEA Games in this event, clocked 8:56.22 for third place.
Rachel may have fallen short of both the Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark (8:51.96) and her personal best (8:53.14), but secured automatic qualification for August’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
Chloe Wang’s 9:05.54 also went under the ‘A’ mark of 9:12.98 for this meet.
The Singapura Finance 47th Singapore Age Group Swimming Championships continues on Thursday, March 17 at 8.30am.
Women’s results – Day 1 (Evening session)
Women 11-12 year olds 800m freestyle
1st Ashley Lim – 9.45.79
2nd Clydi Chan – 9.47.17
3rd Regina Sanchez Pulido – 10:13.85
Women 13-14 year olds 800m freestyle
1st Gan Ching Hwee – 9.07.98 (meet record)
2nd Georgina Winters – 9:13.62
3rd Paloma Canos Cervera – 9:29.64
Women 15-17 year olds 800m freestyle
1st Michika Kikuchi (JPN) – 8:57.84
2nd Kinuko Mochizuki (JPN) – 9:05.12
3rd Tracy Solansa (INA) – 9:23.32
5th Tan Lee Shuen – 9:26.90
7th Genevieve Lye – 9:36.35
9th Chan Pei Tung Melissa – 9:45.65
Women 18 year olds & above 800m freestyle
1st Khoo Cai Lin (MAS) – 8:53.53
2nd Yang Ming Hsuan (TPE) – 8:55.45
3rd Nattanan Junkrajung (THA) – 8:56.22
4th Rachel Marjorie Tseng – 8:57.79
7th Wang Wenyi Chloe – 9:05.54
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