At the Singapura Finance 27th Singapore National Age Group (SNAG) Swimming Championships last evening at the Singapore Sports Hub, swimmer Glen Lim Jun Wei rewrote his own National Boy’s U14 1,500m Freestyle record.
Glen Lim, 13, in action during the 1500m freestyle at the 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships. He rewrote his own national under-14 record with a timing of 16:36.38. (Photo © Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports)
Lim’s timing had been more than 3 seconds off his own personal best
He clocked a time of 16.36.38 minutes, which had been more than three seconds off from his previous personal best of 16.39.73 minutes, which Lim had set this year in January.
Said the student at Raffles Institution, “I expected to do better but I am a bit sore from training last week. But it’s still an achievement for me, as I am turning 14 at the end of this month. I hope to go under 16.30 minutes next time.”
His coach Gary Tan was pleased with his performance though. Said Tan, “Glen has a lot of talent for a boy his size and stature. He has many more years to push the boundaries with the Men’s 1,500m Freestyle and we have been looking for a 1,500m swimmer since Teo Zhen Ren left the scene and went overseas.”
Continued Tan, “I would have preferred it if he achieved a slightly faster time, but he’s still young and we have to keep him excited for the next five days of competition.”
Pang Shen Jun fails to make it to Rio
In contrast, national 1,500m swimmer Pang Shen Jun failed to quality for the Rio Olympics – which takes place later this year – when he finished in a time of 16.12.34 seconds.
Said Pang, “Everyone has their good and bad races. I will just move on and forget – I will be competing in the 400m Freestyle today so I’m going to do my best and see how it goes.”
Pang Sheng Jun swims in the men’s 11 & over 1500m freestyle event during the Singapura Finance 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships at OCBC Aquatic Centre on March 16, 2016 in Singapore.
Rachel Tseng fails to meet her own expectations
His South East Asian Games team mate, Rachel Tseng, also failed to meet her expectations – when she swam 8.57.79 minutes in the Women’s 800m Freestyle event. This is way off from her own meet record of 8.53.14 minutes, which she had set last year.
But Coach Tan still remained upbeat though. He said, “Both of them could have swum better. Being the first race of the meet though, nerves got the better of them so for now we need to get them to see that there are another five days of competition ahead and will take it as though it’s just another day of competition fulfilled.”
He continued, “They swam a decent time and it wasn’t a bad swim but they should reflect on their swim and why they swam it this way.”
However, Chinese Swimming Club’s Gan Ching Hwee set a new meet record in the 800m Freestyle U14 event though, with her timing of 9.07.98 minutes. The previous record, set by Genevieve Lye, was been 9.31.33 seconds.
Ashley Lim swims in the women’s 11 & over 800m freestyle event during the Singapura Finance 47th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships at OCBC Aquatic Centre on March 16, 2016 in Singapore.
SNAG Seniors Events continues today
The SNAG Senior events continues today at the OCBC Aquatic Centre at the Singapore Sports Hub, with the Men’s and Women’s (13 years and above) 50m butterfly, 400m Freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 200m backstroke events.
Leave a Comment