Story by Les Tan and Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan and Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

SNAG-ZACH-2

Zachary Ian Tan set two new meet records in the 200m breaststroke and 400m indivdual medley. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

OCBC Aquatic Centre, Friday, March 13, 2015 — Zachary Ian Tan, 11, of Swimfast Aquatic Club, broke two age-group meet records on Day 1 of the Singapura Finance 46th Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships.

Zachary, who turns 12 on June 14, first broke the 200m breaststroke record for 12-year-old boys when he clocked 2 minutes 27.79 seconds. That broke the old record of 2:40.87 set on March 13, 2011, by Brilliant Chua.

Zachary then capped off the evening by breaking Joseph Schooling’s record for 12 year olds in the 400m individual medley. Zachary’s time of 4:48.84 smashed the old record of 5:14.75 by almost 26 seconds.

His closest competitor in his first race, the 200m breaststroke, was fellow Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) schoolmate, Leow Li Shen, who stopped the clock in 2:39.31, which was also faster than the old record. Ahnt Khaung Htut of Myanmar was the third fastest 12-year-old with 2:42.99.

“I was really happy with my time. I wasn’t really expecting this time,” said Zachary, who is in Primary 6 this year. “I prayed to God for a good timing and he has answered my prayer. It was really fun swimming that first race at NAG.”

His time is close to the National Under-14 record of 2:27.00, set by Dynes Quek in April 2014. It places him as the second fastest ever under-14 local swimmer in this event.

Zachary had set the meet record for 11-year-olds at the same event in 2014 with a 2:44.46 showing.

Ahnt Khaung Htut of Myanmar was second in 5:20.37 while Justin Lee Jun Heng of Chinese Swimming Club was third in 5:33.00.

“I feel very happy that all my hard work has paid off,” said Zachary after breaking Joseph Schooling’s record which has stood for almost eight years. “The backstroke and breaststroke legs went really well. It was really unexpected because I have been 20 seconds slower in training.”

Zachary’s time, like his 200m breaststroke effort earlier in the evening, made him the second fastest under-14 local swimmer in the 400m IM, trailing only record holder Maximillian Ang. The latter set the mark of 4:45.66 at last month’s National Time Trials.

At last year’s National Age Group meet, Zachary finished as the top local swimmer in all 10 of his events. He is slated to swim in 11 at this year’s championships.

For more details of the event, go to: www.facebook.com/swimsnag
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