SEA Games swimming: Joy for one Quah sibling, disappointment for another
REPORTING FROM KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
It was joy for one Quah sibling and disappointment for another on the first day of the SEA Games swimming competition.
Quah Jing Wen opened her SEA Games campaign with two gold medals in the 200m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle relay on Monday (21 August), the first day of the six-day swimming competition that is being held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
The 17-year-old beat the 2015 winner of the 200m butterfly, Vietnamese swim queen Thi Anh Vien Nguyen, to earn her first individual SEA Games gold medal.
Jing Wen’s time of 2min 12.03sec was a personal best and a new national record. Vietnam’s Le Thi My Thao took silver in the event, while Thailand’s Kittiya Patarawadee took bronze.
“I didn’t just win the event but I did a personal best. I was so happy. It was just elation,” said Jing Wen, whose timing erased a national record set in 2008 by Tao Li during the supersuit era.
“I wasn’t thinking about it (breaking the national record) during the race. I was just thinking, ‘I need to reach the wall as fast as possible’. When I touched the wall I was just really happy. It was just out of this world, the feeling.”
She and teammates Quah Ting Wen, Amanda Lim and Natasha Ong also took the relay gold, setting a new Games and national record of 3:44.38 in the process. The previous record was 3:45.83. The teams from Thailand and Indonesia took second and third place, respectively, in the relay event.
In total, Jing Wen has been pencilled in for eight events: five individual races and three relays.
Brother disappointed
In contrast, Jing Wen’s brother Zheng Wen came in second in the 50m backstroke, clocking 25.39s and touching home behind Indonesia’s I Gede Siman Dartawa, who set a new Games record of 25.20s.
Zheng Wen admitted that he was “kinda disappointed” that he was 0.2 seconds off his best timing.
“It wasn’t what I wanted. But you know, no guarantees with the 50. He (Dartawa) just happened to have a better swim tonight. Just got to put it behind me and look forward to the rest of my events,” said the 20-year-old.
Olympic golden boy shines
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Joseph Schooling won the first of his three individual events, the 50m butterfly, in a new SEA Games record time of 23.06s.
“(The) first swim is always a little nervy. I’m glad to have that first swim under my belt, I’m happy with the result. I couldn’t ask for a better start and hopefully I will get better throughout the meet,” said the 22-year-old.
Schooling’s competitors were almost a second behind him, with Indonesia’s Triady Fauzi Sidiq (24.01) taking silver and Vietnam’s Le Nguyen Paul (24.37) earning the bronze.
The crowd at the stadium was a receptive one to the Olympic gold medalist, despite concerns that he would be booed for his earlier remarks about Malaysia.
“I was expecting it to be positive. We’re here to have a good meet and put on a good show, and I think the crowd wants to see that,” he said.
Follow Yahoo News Singapore’s SEA Games coverage here
Related stories:
SEA Games: Schooling needs to ‘find his own way’, says mum
SEA Games: Buses carrying squash players collide, injuries reported
