No medals won but two records broken for Singapore swimmers

New marks in women's 4x100m free relay and women's 1,500m free

Aug 20, 2018 06:00 am

There were no medals for Singapore yesterday, as the Asian Games swimming competition kicked off, but the Republic's swimmers broke two national records to end the day with a cheer.

The women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of Quah Jing Wen, Cherlyn Yeoh, Marina Chan and Amanda Lim had finished fourth-fastest in the morning's heats with 3min 45.99sec - a mere 0.54s behind third-placed Hong Kong.

In the final, Quah Ting Wen, 26, and Christie Chue, 18, replaced Chan and Lim, and it almost proved a masterstroke, with the quartet finishing in 3:44.21 to smash the national record of 3:44.38 set last year.

However, they were still pipped to the bronze by Hong Kong, who clocked 3:41.88. Japan won the gold in a Games record time of 3:36.52 and China took the silver in 3:36.78.

Speaking to reporters after her race at the GBK Aquatic Centre in Jakarta, Ting Wen said: "I have mixed feelings. This is a pretty young team with the exception of me, but for the three rookies I'm proud and I'm very happy - it was a good relay to be on."

Another national record fell during the women's 1,500m freestyle final, with debutant Gan Ching Hwee, 15, finishing fifth in 16:39.70, bettering Lynette Lim's mark of 16:41.49 set in 2009.

Maximilian Maeder (second from left) collecting $250,000 for his Olympic bronze medal from SNOC president Grace Fu (fourth from left) and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong (third from right).

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But it was not all joy for Singapore's swimming contingent, with Quah Zheng Wen finishing sixth in the men's 200m butterfly final in 1:57.95.

The 21-year-old started slow off the blocks, put himself in contention for the bronze by the halfway mark, but could not keep his grip on third spot.

Over at the Jakabaring International Shooting Range in Palembang, shooters Martina Veloso and Irwan Abdul Rahman, both 18, narrowly missed out on the final of the mixed team 10m air rifle event after finishing sixth out of 22 teams.

The pair scored 829.7 points - just 0.1 short of the final qualifying mark which was achieved by Taiwan.

It was a similar story in other sports. For instance, fencer Lau Ywen crashed out in the Round of 16 of the women's individual sabre event, and wushu exponent Jason Goh lost in the preliminary round of the men's sanda 56kg category.