AIMING FOR A BIG SPLASH: This combo photos show swimmers in action at the Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Wong Soon Kai Inter-Club Swimming Championship 2012 which was organised by (KOTAS) at the Aquatic Centre of Excellence in Kuching. The year-end swim meet saw 13 records tumble and Sibu emerge overall team winners.
KUCHING: Amateur Swimming Association of Sarawak (Asas) president Larry Sng has commented that there was a likelihood of rural areas yielding excellent and talented swimmers.
He believed that with good tutelage and training, Sarawak is capable of finding the next Sarawakian world-class athletes in swimming. All that it takes now is to scout and groom them.
“I hoped that such talent could be identified and encouraged. I also believe there are also a lot of unpolished gems out there who are just waiting for the right moment to shine especially in the rural areas,” said Sng during the prize-giving and closing ceremony of the the Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Wong Soon Kai Inter-Club Swimming Championship last Sunday.
Sng revealed he was impressed to have learnt that a remarkable 13 meet records were broken over the weekend at the competition. Showcasing the cream of young swimming talent from across the State, the meet saw 67 events contested over two days.
He continued that divisional swimming associations like Kota Samarahan Amateur Swimming Association (Kotas) must do their part in grooming young talents for the good of the sport in the state.
Commenting on the recent swimming meet, he noted that competition over the weekend had been fierce with some events having fields of six full heats.
This is indeed a good sign that the development of the swimming sports in the state is encouraging.
“I thank Kotas for doing a fine job of putting on the event as it was a well-organised event that attracted a large field of competitors. They even constructed a website where the latest result was published for the convenience of everyone who followed the event,” he commented.
Sng also noted that the meet is the only competition other than the Sarawak Age Group Championships that brings together the best young swimmers from all over the state. He can’t wait for the next event.
Apart from the success in hosting such a prestigious event, he also admired the initiative the new Kotas committee had shown in setting up structured training targets for their swimmers.
This is the type of programmes that swimmers in the state need if they were to be national and world-class athletes.
Commenting on how swim meets are a costly event to host, Sng praised the effort of Kotas in obtaining sponsorship from some of Sarawak’s big companies.
He opined that it was good to see these companies supporting the future generations in such a positive way.
“They (the sponsors) did the right thing in sponsoring activities for the youth and sports.
“It is part of the corporate social responsibilities that needed to be done for the good of our community and people here in the state,” he added.
Pre-tournament favourites Sibu lived up to their top billing by winning the title last Sunday.
The swimming meet was a two-day event held over last weekend from Nov 3 to Nov 4.
Swimmers from ages 6-17 years competed in all the four major swimming strokes at 50m and 100m distances in four age divisions.
When the final points were tallied, the Sibu Amateur Swimming Association (Sasa) team emerged overall champion.
The performances of their swim stars Hii Siew Siew, Nita Wong and Ngui Gui Ping were a major contributing factor to the success of the team.
A total of six new meet records were recorded by the Sibu team.
Nita Wong showed her prowess in the backstroke with a time of 1 min 13.18 sec for the 100m, smashing an 11-year-old record. She also bettered her own 2011 mark in the 50m with a new record of 33.97 secs.
In the same group, Sibu team stalwart Hii Siew Siew broke the record in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1 min 00.62 sec.
She also grabbed new records in her pet butterfly events taking gold in the 50m with a new record of 28.97 secs, smashing the old record of 29.77 secs held since 1997, and also set a new mark in the 100m with her time of 1 min 04.44 sec.
The other Sibu record breaker was rising star Nee Gui Ping, who won the 100m butterfly in the Boys 11-12 yrs category in a time of 1 min 03.44 sec.
This bettered national swimming legend Danial Bego’s 2001 record time of 1 min 03.50 sec.