Story By REDintern Chantal Liew
Quah Jin Wen won the 100m Freestyle gold in 56.31s, beating out Laticia-Leigh Transom (56.59) of New Zealand and Sophie Smith (56.95) of Scotland. (Photo 1 courtesy of NYSI)
Nassau, Bahamas, Thursday-Friday, July 20-21, 2017 — Leading the charge for medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games was Quah Jing Wen who, despite having a heavy competition schedule, powered through to take the top spot in the Girls’ 50-metre Butterfly and 100m Freestyle.
On the first day of the competition, the 16-year-old held off strong competition from swimming powerhouses Great Britain and Australia to finish first in the Girls’ 50m Butterfly with a new personal best time of 27.23 seconds. It was a tight race and second place went to Alicia Wilson of England who touched in a 27.28s. Fellow Singaporean Nicholle Toh finished fifth in 27.62s, just off her personal best of 27.55s set in March this year.
On the second day of the meet, Quah went on to blitz the competition in the Girls’ 100m freestyle, her winning time of 56.31s not only a new personal best but was also 0.28 seconds ahead of the second-placed finisher, Laticia-Leigh Transom of New Zealand (56.59s). Scotland’s Sophie Smith took the bronze with a time of 56.95s and Natasha Ong of Singapore finished sixth with a 57.53s.
Also picking up another gold for Singapore was Francis Fong who took the top spot on the podium in the Boys’ 100m Backstroke in a time of 56.42s. He also picked up a bronze in the 50m Backstroke with his 26.50s effort.
Another stellar performance came from Christie Chue who swam to a huge personal best and a gold in the Girls’ 50m Breaststroke. Her time of 32.38s shaved almost half a second off her old time of 32.81s.
“I felt good having raced in the 200m Breaststroke the previous day so I was confident of doing well in the 50m breaststroke. I listened to my coach’s advice and I just focused on what I needed to do and went out there and gave it my all and I am glad that my hard work in training has paid off,” said the 17-year-old.
Other medallists from the first two days of competition include Dylan Koo who picked up a silver in the Boys’ 50m Butterfly as well as Samuel Khoo and Jonathan Tan who picked up bronzes in the Boys’ 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle respectively.
This brings Team Singapore’s total medal tally to four gold, one silver and three bronze, putting the nation fourth in the medal standings.
Results
50m Butterfly Girls
1st Quah Jing Wen (Singapore) – 27.23
2nd Wilson, Alicia Marie (England) – 27.28
3rd Harvey, Emma Rose (Scotland) – 27.56
50m Butterfly Boys
1st Scott Alexander McClay (Scotland) – 24.53
2nd Dylan Koo (Singapore) – 24.55
3rd Lewis Ward Fraser (Wales) – 24.66
100m Backstroke Boys
1st Francis Fong (Singapore) – 56.42
2nd Scott Alexander McClay (Scotland) – 56.53
3rd Finn Alexander Kennard Campbell (New Zealand) – 56.85
50m Backstroke Boys
1st Finn Alexander Kennard Campbell (New Zealand) – 26.18
2nd Jahrel Ian Murphy (England) – 26.44
3rd Francis Fong (Singapore) – 26.50
100m Freestyle Girls
1st Quah Jing Wen (Singapore) – 56.31
2nd Transom, Laticia-Leigh (New Zealand) – 56.59
3rd Smith Sophie Charlott (Scotland) – 56.95
100m Freestyle Boys
1st Scott Alexander McClay (Scotland) – 50.46
2nd Kyle Charles Abeysinghe (Sri Lanka) – 50.93
3rd Jonathan Tan (Singapore) – 51.10
50m Breaststroke Girls
1st Chue, Christie (Singapore) – 32.38
2nd Higgs, Lilly (Bahamas) – 32.52
3rd Smith, Ciara Eve Blaau (New Zealand) – 32.56
50m Breaststroke Boys
1st Michael James Houlie (South Africa) – 27.68
2nd Izaak Bastian (Bahamas) – 28.77
3rd Samuel Khoo (Singapore) – 29.19
4x100m Mixed Relay
1st Singapore (Quah Jing Wen, Darren Chua, Jonathan Tan, Natasha Ong) – 3:36.01
2nd England – 3:36.17
3rd Scotland – 3:37.05
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