Tao Li powering her way to victory in the women’s 100m butterfly with a timing of 59.23s. (Photo 1 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)

Singapore Sports School, Friday, June 15, 2012 — Tao Li won Singapore’s only gold medal on Day Three of the the 1st South-east Asia (SEA) Swimming Championships as the Republic’s swimmers failed to reproduce their winning ways of the previous two days.

Singapore’s swim queen Tao Li clocked a time of 59.23 seconds to win the Women’s 100m Butterfly. However, she fell short of earning a direct ticket to the Olympics as she missed the Olympic “A” mark of 58.70. Though she was reported to have said that she was only aiming for an Olympic “B” mark, she could could not hide her disappointment after completing the race.

Tao Li, who bettered her timing of 1:2.01 in the morning’s heat, said: “My coach said I did alright, but my expectation is higher and I still feel I can go faster. I think I can still improve on my back end speed. I’ve been working on it a lot. It was good during training, but not in tonight’s race. I’m aiming to hit below 30.2s.”

Tao Li also cited the support she gets as her biggest motivation. She said: “I think I can swim better. I know a lot of people have high expectations of me, and I will not let those who support me down.”

Meanwhile in the men’s 100m Backstroke, Quah Zheng Wen was up against Indonesian rival I Gede Siman Sudartawa once again. Siman, who at 17 is two years older than Zheng Wen, prevailed with a timing of 55.32s to record his second victory over Zheng Wen.

On Day One of competition, Siman, who won all three backstroke gold medals at last year’s SEA Games and a fourth in the medley relay, had pipped Zheng Wen to the gold medal in the 200m Backstroke.

Zheng Wen was gracious in defeat and commented: “I did pretty okay because I was just 0.2s off my personal best. This (the sprint event) is Siman’s domain. He’s bigger and stronger, and it possibly counts in these type of events.”

In the women’s 100m Backstroke, Shana Lim started off in the lead only to see Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh overtake her to take the gold. She finished with a time of 1 minute 3.24 seconds to take silver.

There was also another disappointment in the men’s 100m Butterfly event. Singapore’s Rainer Ng had clocked the second fastest time of 56.27 seconds in the morning’s heats but failed to reproduce his form in the final. Rainer had to settle for fifth position after posting a slower time at 56.35. This race came after the 100m Backstroke which Rainer had finished third in.

Compatriot Jerryl Yong was fourth with a personal best time of 56.03. Indonesia’s Glenn Victor Sutanto took the gold medal with a time of 53.19.

The Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team, consisting of Danny Yeo, Russell Ong, Pang Sheng Jun and Rainer, settled for a silver after being pipped to the gold medal by Indonesia. Danny put Singapore on the front foot with a lead-off leg of 50.60 seconds which broke his day-old national open mark of 50.66.

Russell’s 51.33 second leg increased their lead, but Indonesia’s Glenn Victor and Guntur Pratama overcame a couple of 52+ splits from Sheng Jun and Rainer to win the race in a time of 3:25.72. Singapore clocked a time of 3:26.85 which was the fourth fastest in its history.

Results of the day (Singaporeans)
Men 400m Freestyle
1. Yeap Soon Choy (MAS) — 3:54.19
2. Vernon Lee (MAS) — 4:00.40
3. Jeremy Kevin Mathews (SIN) — 4:01.55
5. Pang Sheng Jun (SIN) — 4:04.41

Women 100m Backstroke
1. Nguyen Thi Anh (VIE) — 1:02.70 (OGB)
2. Shana Lim (SIN) — 1:03.24
3. Yessy Yosapute — (INA) — 1:05.62
5. Meagan Lim (SIN) — 1:07.61

Men 100m Backstroke
1. I Gede Siman (INA) — 55.32 (OGB)
2. Quah Zheng Wen (SIN) — 56.84
3. Ng Kai Wee Rainer (SIN) — 57.94

Women 100m Butterfly
1. Tao Li (SIN) — 59.23 (OGB)
2. Nguyen Thi Kim — (VIE) — 1:01.30
3. Meagan Lim (SIN) — 1:02.56

Men 100m Butterfly
1. Glenn Victor (INA) — 53.19 (OGB)
2. Phuoc Hoang Qu (VIE) — 54.13 (OGB)
3. Triady Fauzi (INA) — 54.27
4. Yong Jerryl (SIN) — 56.03 (PB)
5. Ng Kai Wee Rainer (SIN) — 56.35

Women 800m Freestyle
1. Khoo Cai Lin (MAS) — 8:52.45
2. Raina Saumi Grahana (INA) — 9:00.47
3. Sriphanomthorn Benjaporn (THA) — 9:11.46
5. Marina Chan (SIN) — 9:21.27 (PB)
6. Rachel Tseng (SIN) — 9:22.18

Men 400m Freestyle Relay
1. Indonesia — 3:25.72
– Triady Fauzi
– Alexis Wijaya Ohmar
– Glenn Victor
– Guntur Putera Pratama
2. Singapore — 3:26.85
– Yeo Kai Quan Danny 50.60 (National Open record)
– Ong, Kai Yi Russell 51.33
– Pang Sheng Jun 52.81
– Ng Kai Wee Rainer 52.11
3. Malaysia — 3:32.51
– Lim Ching Hwang
– Ian James Barr
– Tern Jian Han
– Vernon Lee

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