Story by Koh Yizhe, Nicole Lum and Nicholina Chua/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports

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Quah Zheng Wen, took home one gold and one silver, setting one Games record and two national records in the process. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

OCBC Aquatic Centre, Saturday, June 6, 2015 — Team Singapore opened accounts at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games with a haul of two gold, two silver and two bronze medals on the first day of SEA Games swimming.

Leading the charge was Quah Zheng Wen, who picked up one gold and one silver, setting one Games record and two national records in the process. This was a good start to his Games schedule, where he is slated to swim in nine individual events at the Games.

In his second event of the night, the 100m backstroke, he clocked 54.51 seconds, winning gold and breaking the Games record by over a second. The mark stood at 55.59s, set by two-time defending champion I Gede Siman Sudartawa of Indonesia in 2011. Sudartawa finished second, just a hundredth of a second off that time.

Zheng Wen’s time also bettered the World Championships ‘A’ qualifying mark of 54.72s.

Earlier in the evening, he held off strong challenges from the Malaysian and Filipino swimmers to finish second in the 200m freestyle behind Vietnamese Hoang Quy Phuoc, who set a new Games record of 1 minute 48.96 seconds. Zheng Wen’s time of 1:49.17 is also a new National Open record. He broke Joseph Schooling’s record of 1:49.47, which was set in 2013.

“I guess I am happy with my performance today, but I can’t help but be a little bit disappointed and emphasise the fact this Games is in Singapore and I wanted to do Singapore proud,” said Zheng Wen.

“I was a tad bit nervous for my first race. I think the nervousness got to me and I messed it up a bit which cost me the gold. I guess I made up for it in the 100 back so I am quite satisfied with my performance today,”

“Coach told me that if you have a bad race, you can cry for five minutes but you got to get back on the starting blocks again. That motivation really helped me for the next race.”

“I would say I am one step closer to succeeding at these games but I still have a long way to go,” added the 19-year-old.

Singapore’s other representative in the race, Danny Yeo, finished fifth in a time of 1:51.10. Danny had been battling tonsillitis for the past few days, and today was his first day back in the pool.

“I am quite disappointed with this swim as I was bedridden for the past three days due to tonsillitis and fever,” said Danny.

“It is very disappointing that it happened at this time. This was my first day back in the pool. I think this timing is not too bad, but when you are swimming against the best in the region it is not good enough.”

“Now, I got to recover well for the relays because it is a 4-man event and not just one person.”

The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team stamped their authority as they wrestled the title back from the Thais, clocking 3:46.60, some three seconds ahead of the defending champions. It was the second fastest time by a local quartet, with only the national open mark of 3:45.73 set in 2009 ahead of it.

Quah Jing Wen, who was making her SEA Games debut, clocked a personal best time of 4:59.52 to finish third in the women’s 400m individual medley, 16.64 seconds behind Vietnamese winner Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. Jing Wen’s teammate Tan Jing-E finished fifth in a time of 5:02.68.

In the women’s 800m freestyle, Rachel Tseng finished fourth in a time of 8:58.29. If she swam a time close to her personal best of 8:53.14, she would have been in the running for a medal. The gold was won by Nguyen in a time of 8:34.85, a new Games record time.

“I knew that I was actually on par with the third-placer when I was heading into the last 100m. But I had no energy left and I had already given my all,” said Rachel. “I was confident of getting a podium finish when I entered this event. My warm-up was really quite good and my pacing was on point.”

Despite an unsatisfactory start, Rachel remains optimistic for her upcoming swims. “I’m definitely disappointed with my race, but I’m not entirely upset because it’s only my first race and I have two more races to go. I will have to discuss with my coaches about what I can improve on,” she explained.

“This result actually makes me even hungrier for my other races, so I’m not too worried about it. Even though it was a bad race I’m really thankful for all the support everyone has given me,” the 17-year-old concluded.

Chloe Wang, who swam in a timed final in the morning, clocked 9:11.32 to finish fifth.

The last individual event of the evening saw Lionel Khoo and Christopher Cheong battle it out for second in the men’s 200m breaststroke behind Thai swimmer Radomyos Matjiur, who clocked 2:14.83. This time, Lionel emerged on top and broke Christopher’s three-month old national open record with a time of 2:16.66.

The last time Singapore had two swimmers on the podium of a breaststroke event at the SEA Games was in 1973, when Alan Lelah and Khong Kok Sun finished second and third in the 200m breaststroke.

Day 2 of swimming will see Joseph Schooling take to the pool for his first of six individual events, the men’s 100m freestyle, where he will face stiff challenge from compatriot Quah Zheng Wen, defending champion, Indonesian Triady Fauzi Sidiq, and Vietnamese Hoang Quy Phuoc.

In the women’s 50m butterfly, Tao Li and Quah Ting Wen are up against Vietnamese golden girl Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, but Jasmine Alkhadi of the Philippines could also be a threat.

Other Singaporeans taking to the pool tomorrow are: Chantal Liew and Hannah Quek in the women’s 200m backstroke, Lionel Khoo and Christopher Cheong in the men’s 100m breaststroke, Meagan Lim and Samantha Louisa Yeo in the women’s 200m IM and the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

Team Singapore Day 1 results (Finals only)
Men’s 200m freestyle: Quah Zheng Wen 1:49.17 (Silver, National Open Record, PB), Danny Yeo 1:51.10
Women’s 800m freestyle: Rachel Tseng 8:58.29, Chloe Wang 9:11.32
Men’s 100m backstroke: Quah Zheng Wen 54.51 (Gold, Games and National Open Record, PB) Zach Ong 57.71 (7th)
Women’s 400m individual medley: Quah Jing Wen 4:59.52 (Bronze, PB), Tan Jing-E 5:02.68 (5th)
Men’s 200m breaststroke: Lionel Khoo 2:16.66 (Silver, National Open Record, PB), Christopher Cheong 2:16.99 (Bronze)
Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay: Nur Marina Chan, Amanda Lim, Hoong En Qi, Quah Ting Wen 3:46.60 (Gold)

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