Nee (left) and Tan displaying their medals and awards at the 42nd Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championships held in Sibu from Feb 27 to Mar 1.
KUCHING: Rising stars Nee Gui Ping of Sibu and Tan Tyng of Kuching will represent Sarawak at the Malaysian Open Swimming Championships to be held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur from March 26-29.
They were selected based on their excellent performances at the recent 42nd Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championships in Sibu. They won the best swimmer awards in Boys Group B and Girls Group B.
Gui Ping broke three records in the 100m butterfly (59.19s), 50m butterfly (26.87s) and 50m freestyle (25.27s) while Tan set new standards in the 100m butterfly (01:05.70s), 50m breaststroke (36.17s) and 50m butterfly (29.75s).
They will be joined by Alex Tiong (Sibu) and Leong Wan Ying (Miri) while other members of the Sarawak team are national swimmers Daniel William Bego, Vernon Lee, Welson Sim, Erika Kong and Angelia Chieng who are based in Bukit Jalil.
Team manager-cum-coach Hii Hieng Chiong is optimistic that Sarawak swimmers can do well despite the invitational meet having attracted top rated swimmers from South-east Asia.
“Yes, I am quite confident that our swimmers will do well especially the national swimmers. The chances of them winning medals are there,” he said in a telephone interview from Sibu yesterday.
Hii regarded the meet as a good exposure ground for the younger swimmers who are preparing for Sukma 2016.
“As for the national swimmers, they will be trying to beat the qualifying times for SEA Games that will be held in Singapore in June this year and the World Championship from July 24 to Aug 9 in Kazan, Russia,” he added.