Teong Tzen Wei qualifies for men’s 50m freestyle semis at short-course world meet
National swimmer Teong Tzen Wei qualified for the semi-finals of the men’s 50m freestyle at the Fina World Swimming Championships (25m) in Australia on Friday, two days after becoming the first Singaporean to participate in a final at the competition.
The 25-year-old had come in 17th in Friday’s heats after he touched the wall at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in 21.30 seconds, missing out on the last semi-final place by 0.01sec.
But the withdrawal of American Michael Andrew, who finished eighth in the heats, saw Teong make the cut for the semi-finals.
On Friday, compatriots Maximillian Ang and Letitia Sim set national records in the men’s and women’s 200m breaststroke events respectively.
Ang, who had rewritten the men’s 100m breast national mark two days ago, clocked 2min 08.12sec to place 19th in the heats, erasing his previous record of 2:08.49.
This was also Sim’s second national record at the meet. After breaking the women’s 200m individual medley record on Tuesday, the 19-year-old achieved the feat again in the women’s 200m breast in a time of 2:21.60.
Her effort in Melbourne eclipsed her earlier mark of 2:27.44, which she had attained at the Fina Swimming World Cup 2022, Leg 3 - USA, Indianapolis, in November.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now