Story by Daniel Yeo/Red Sports. Photos by Stefanus Ian/Red Sports.

Glen Lim in action during the men's 400m freestyle final at the 14th Singapore National Swimming Championships 2018. He broke the national record, touching home and stopping the clock at 3:54.12 to finish first. (Photo 1 © Stefanus Ian/Red Sports)

Glen Lim in action during the men’s 400m freestyle final at the 14th Singapore National Swimming Championships 2018. He broke the national record, touching home and stopping the clock at 3:54.12 to finish first. (Photo 1 © Stefanus Ian/Red Sports)

OCBC Aquatic Centre, Saturday, June 23, 2018 — Singapore’s Glen Lim cracked a second national long-distance record in four days at the 14th Singapore National Swimming Championships 2018, as he looks to go even faster at the upcoming Jakarta Asian Games this August.

With a timing of 3 minutes 54.12 seconds, the Swimfast Aquatic Club swimmer finished first in the Men’s 400-metre Freestyle, breaking Pang Sheng Jun’s 3:54.64 national record set last year at the 29th South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, as well as Sheng Jun’s year-old 3:56.41 meet record.

“I wasn’t thinking about the national records, I was thinking about my race plan. I wasn’t aiming for a specific time but more of following my race plan so that I could at least get to where I needed to go,” said Glen, 16. “I’m feeling proud of myself right now. It was a really difficult swim for me, but I gave my all, and I got what I deserved.”

Glen’s record-breaking swims were achieved without tapering for this meet, which he is approaching as a train-through — suggesting he could go even faster. Glen set a new national record when he finished third in the 800m freestyle at the meet Wednesday, shaving 13 seconds off his personal best to stop the clock at 8:15.08.

“Yeah, possibly, it’s all about the mind for me,” he said. “If I have the mental strength and I bring it into the Asian Games, I can probably go much lower than 3:54. At least 2 seconds faster.”

Glen’s gold was one of seven golds that Singapore claimed on the fourth and final day of competition, along with three silvers, and five bronzes. Amanda Lim and Teong Tzen Wei each broke meet records in the Women’s and Men’s 50m Freestyle swims respectively.

Quah Ting Wen was yet another Asian Games-bound swimmer getting her gold medal. After struggling in the Women’s 200m and 100m Freestyle races over the past two days, she came out tops in the 50m Butterfly, posting timings of 27.99, 27.76, and 27.20 seconds in the new Neo Garden Sprints format.

“It’s a lot of mental practice. No matter how many times you do it, I think it’s good to do it,” Ting Wen said. “Some people only taper once or twice a year, and sometimes you kind of forget what the competition environment is like, so for me, I like racing because you practice the preparation, practice the warm-up, you practice the timing between events and how you want to do things. So, practice, I liked it.”

And as the Championships came to a close, Swimming Victoria’s Sophie Caldwell was a standout performer, claiming six gold medals and breaking three meet records in the process.

“It’s been really good and really enjoyable,” she said. “This is the first time Swimming Victoria has come into Singapore to compete, so it’s all new to us and a new experience, so we’re just having fun and doing it.”

Results
Women’s 400m IM
1. Sophie Caldwell – 4:51.01, new MR
2. Azzahra Permatahani – 4:52.93
3. Xiandi N. Chua – 4:58.81

Men’s 400m IM
1. Aflah Fadlan Prawira – 4:26.14
2. Pang Sheng Jun – 4:27.80
3. Maximillian Ang Wei – 4:31.96

Women’s 400m Freestyle
1. Gan Ching Hwee – 4:17.37
2. Natthanan Junkrajang – 4:18.06
3. Ammiga Himathongkom – 4:21.84

Men’s 400m Freestyle
1. Glen Lim Jun Wei – 3:54.12, new NR, new MR
2. Joshua Hertz – 3:56.29
3. Aflah Fadlan Prawira – 3:57.69

Women’s 50m Butterfly
1. Quah Ting Wen – 27.20
2. Jenjira Srisa-ard – 27.55
3. Jasmine Alkhaldi – 27.71

Men’s 50m Butterfly
1. Matthew Temple – 24.18, new MR
2. Edward Marks – 24.38
3. Darren Lim – 24.89

Women’s 50m Backstroke
1. Hoong En Qi – 29.83
2. As Istri Kania Ratih Atmaja – 30.01
3. Jamie Koo Yazhen – 30.13

Men’s 50m Backstroke
1. Kasipat Chograthin – 25.77
2. Francis Fong Jia Yi – 26.34
3. Arvind Mani – 26.89

Women’s 50m Breaststroke
1. Roanne Ho Ru’En – 31.61
2. Christie May Chue Mun Ee – 32.44
3. Saovanee Boonamphai – 32.58

Men’s 50m Breastroke
1. Sandeep Sejwal – 27.59
2. Samuel Williamson – 27.68
3. Lionel Khoo – 28.50

Women’s 50m Freestyle
1. Amanda Lim – 25.38, new MR
2. Julia Hawkins – 25.70
3. Kuna Lee – 25.76

Men’s 50m Freestyle
1. Teong Tzen Wei – 22.52, new MR
2. Virdhawal Vikram Khade – 22.68
3. Jonathan Tan – 22.85

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