Kuching to host international masters swimming championship

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Snowdan (seated third right), Ong (fourth left) and Kong (second right) with the organising committee members.

KUCHING: More than 350 participants and tournament officials from Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia will converge in Kuching on Dec 8 for the Speedo Malaysia International Masters Swimming Championship.

Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan said Kuching had been given the honour to host the event for the first time at the Sarawak Aquatic Centre in Petra Jaya.

“The event is jointly organised by Amateur Swimming Association of Sarawak (Asas) and Amateur Swimming Union Malaysia (Asum) with the collaboration from Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC),” he said after chairing the co-ordination meeting for the organising committee at Sarawak Stadium.

Also present during the meeting were SSC CEO Dr Ong Kong Swee and Anthony Kong who represented Asas president Dato Wee Hong Seng.

The Balai Ringin assemblyman added that the event is open to participants aged between 24 and 70 years and above.

The event is divided into team and individual categories with the rules and regulations following the International Swimming Federation (Fina).

Both the men’s and women’s competitions will divided into 11 age groups.

“There will be a total of 11 age group categories for both the men’s and women’s events with the youngest age group for those aged 20 to 24 years while the most senior category is for those aged 70 years and above,” Snowdan said on the event which was held at Darul Ehsan Aquatics Centre in Selangor in December last year.

For the men’s 4-team member relay events, the MR1 category is open to those teams with a combined age of 120-159; the MR2 category is for teams with members with the combined age of 160-199 while the MR3 category is for teams with members with the combined age of 200-239.

There will also be the mixed relays for teams comprising two men and two women swimmers with the MX1 category for teams with members with combined age of  120-159 years while the MX2 is for teams with members with combined age of 160-199 and the MX3 is for teams with members with combined age of 200-239.

The championship is expected to start at 8am and the races will involve the following events: men’s 200m freestyle, women’s 200m freestyle, 4x50m mixed medley relay, men’s 50m backstroke, women’s 50m backstroke, men’s 100m freestyle, women’s 100m freestyle, men’s 50m breaststroke, women’s 50m breaststroke, men’s 4x50m freestyle relay and women’s 4x50m women’s freestyle relay.

In the afternoon, the events are men’s 200m IM, women’s 200m IM, men’s 50m butterfly, women’s 50m butterfly, men’s 100m breaststroke, women’s 100m breaststroke, men’s 50m freestyle, women’s 50m freestyle, men’s 4x50m medley relay and women’s 4x50m medley relay.

The winning team shall be determined by the highest total number of points collected by their respective swimmers in the individual and relay events.

Last year’s championship title was won by New Wave Swimming Club who collected 1,499 points, followed by Buaya Swim Team with 959 points while Indo Master Swimmers finished third with 362.5 points.

Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is expected to grace the closing and prize presentation ceremony.