Quah Ting Wen goes under 25sec in women's 50m free
Quah Ting Wen has become the first Singaporean to go under 25 seconds in the women's 50m freestyle when she clocked 24.92s in the Japan leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup on Friday (Aug 2).
With her bronze-winning effort, the 26-year-old also lowered her own national record of 25.07s set during the Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships in March.
On Friday, Quah was just 0.11s behind Australia's Cate Campbell, who won the silver in 24.81. Sweden's Michelle Coleman took the gold in 24.66.
Quah said she felt it was almost a perfect race, except for a long finish.
She added: "I was excited before the race, yet at the same time nervous, but was happy to just be in the final and racing against all these fast women.
"I did not know how to react when I saw that 24. I kept asking myself, 'Is that what a 24(-sec) swim feels like?'. Because it felt awesome, and I was very happy.
"As usual, the next question that popped into my head was, 'How could I have made the race better, faster', but that’s just me I guess, I just want to keep getting better. For now, I’ll enjoy the moment.”
Earlier on Friday, her sister Jing Wen set a national record of 2min 11.38sec in the women's 200m butterfly heats.
Quah will be taking part in the 100m freestyle on Sunday, along with Cherlyn Yeoh, Christie Chue, Gan Ching Hwee and Amanda Lim.
At the Singapore National Age Group Championships in March, Quah had become the first local to go under 55 seconds in the 100m freestyle by clocking 54.82s.
In June, she lowered the mark to a national-record 54.62s in the heats of the Singapore National Swimming Championships, before winning the final in 54.67.
She will be hoping to break more records in the Singapore leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup at the OCBC Aquatic Centre from Aug 15-17.
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