Brunei swimmers continue to improve times

Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

IT was a good day for the national swim team on the second day of the 41st SEA Age Group Swimming Championships at the National Aquatics Centre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.

The nine-athlete team managed to record seven new personal best times out of 10 events that they participated in today.

The team manager Liyani Husain was pleased with her charges at the three-day event saying that the team have achieved their goal of improving their time at the prestigious tournament.

“We have a number of new PBs recorded for our local swimmers today, so I am very happy for that. They also managed to improve their time on the first day (Friday),” said Liyani in an interview with BruSports News.

“But we still have tomorrow, and I hope that they remain focused to improve their personal time in the remaining events,” added the manager.

Natasha Sia (R) before the start of her event. Picture: Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh

Justin Lim (featured pic) impressed in the boys’ 13 and under 100m breaststroke event when he recorded a new personal best of 1:28.56 from his seeding time of 1:31.05.

Ashley Chai was equally impressive setting new personal best records in two events: girls’ 16-18 200m backstroke (2:41.27) and 50m butterfly (32.63s) to improve on their previous times of 2:42.03 and 32.79s respectively.

Brunei’s youngest competitor, Zeke Chan, recorded a time of 34.61s in the boys’ 13 and under 50m butterfly event to improve from 35.20s, while, Dylan Chua Chen Yee, was 13 seconds faster from his seeding time of 1:15.51 in the boys’ 16-18 100m breaststroke event.

Emma Yussof swam to a new time of 1:29.29 in the girls’ 13 and under 100m breaststroke to beat her previous time of 1:29.7, while Natasha Sia recorded a new time of 31.69s in the girls’ 14-15 50m freestyle to improve on her previous time of 32.34s.

SEA AG RECORDS THAT WERE BROKEN ON DAY 2

Defending champions Vietnam continued to dominate the competition, amassing a combined total of 60 medals - 32 gold 21 silver and seven bronze medals - after two days.

Vietnam set a new record in the boys’ 18 & under 4x100m freestyle relay after recording a time of 3:31.82 to beat the previous time of 3:34.18 set by Singapore in 2014.

Vietnam continue their dominance at the 41st SEA AG Swimming Championships on the second day. Picture: AK Fauzi Pg Salleh

Hung Nguyen Tran and Huu Kim Son Nguyen excelled in the boys’ 14-15 200m freestyle event recording a new time of 1:53.70 and 1:52.00 respectively.

Both times were better than the previous record of 1:54.35 set by Sarit Tiewong of Thailand in 2010.

Huu Kim Son continued his perfect form in the boys’ 14-15 400M IM event when he swam to a new time of 4:22.00 to beat his countryman Duy Khoy Tran’s record of 4:30.94 that he set in 2012.

Indonesia tried to keep up with the titleholders raking in 37 medals -14 gold, 14 silver and nine bronze medals over two days.

They also managed to break a new record today when Mikkel Jun Jie Lee swan to a new time of 23.73s in the boys’ 14-15 50m freestyle to better the previous time of 24.04s held by Thailand’s Kittapat Sricharoenboon in 2010.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Hj Awang Halbi Hj Mohammad Yussof (2nd R) presenting prizes to winners. Picture: Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh

Thailand, who are on 10 gold, 12 silver and 22 bronze medals, also had a fruitful day when Nawaporn Thaitae swam to a new record of 2:22.81 in the girls’ 13 & under 200m backstroke event to beat previous time of 2:23.92 which set in 2007 by Cheng Karmen of Malaysia.

Last but not least, Thailand’s Chermas Kaocharern Wiriyawattana, Thanonchai Janruksa, Apiwit Krudtupn and Manita Sathianchokwisan swam to a new record of 4:06.73 in the mixed 18 & under 4x100 medley relay beating the previous time of 4:08.32 set by Singapore’s Francis Fong, Samuel Khoo, Nicholle Toh and Ashley Khoo two years ago.

Comments are closed.