Records galore at swim meet

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GOING FOR GOLD: Sibu’s Alex Tiong en-route to win his gold medal in the Boys A 200m butterfly. — Photo by Othman Ishak

SIBU: Star swimmer Alex Tiong of Sibu continued to create ripples as he smashed another  record in the Boys A 50m backstroke to add to his personal tally of three records as the 39th Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championship came to a close at Bukit Lima Swimming Pool yesterday.

However, it was Kota Samarahan’s Welsom Sim who again hog the limelight when he created three out of the four records for the day to add to his personal tally of six records.

His biggest accolade was in the Boys B 50m freestyle event when he rewrote a new time of 25.57’ to beat the record of 25.64’ set by Yong Kuok Soon which stood for 19 years.

The other two records were in the 200m freestyle (1’58.70) and 50m backstroke (28.94’)

This brought to a total tally of six records for Welsom who also easily lift the title as the best swimmer in Boys B category.

For Alex, he completed a personal best of garnering eight gold, two silver and three bronze in the championship which also saw him adjudged the best swimmer in the Boys A category.

“It was a big honor and I will strive to push myself harder so that I can continue to be at my best,” said the 16-year-old Form Four student of SMK Sacred Heart who competed in 16 events.

A backstroke specialist, Alex convincingly broke the 50m backstroke record of Sarawak swimming sensation Daniel Bego with a new time of 29.32”.

Daniel had since gone on to become a full-time national swimmer.

Alex other records were in the 100m backstroke (1’03.15) and 200m backstroke (2’16.98).

It could have been four altogether had he not gotten himself disqualified in his pet event, the 400m Individual Medley when he was deemed as `too fast’ off the starting block.

Still, Alex, who has been shortlisted for the coming Sukma in Pahang, believed he could go the distance if he was challenged.

“Hopefully, I will be at my best in the coming Sukma,” he added.

Sibu Amateur Swimming Association coach Hii Hieng Chiong has expressed his satisfaction over the success of the swim meet and  added that it had unearthed several promising swimming stars.

Besides Welsom, he said other rising stars included Sibu’s Nee Gui Ping (age 11), Miri Jasper Lau (age 12) and Kota Samarahan’s Tan Tyng.

All of them had performed to expectation in their respective events.

“They are the elite swimmers. All of them are under 14 years of age and their future looks bright. If they are given enough exposure and continue to train consistently, it is only a matter of time before they would become champions,” Hii told The Borneo Post.