Emily shows the way, shatters age-group record
KUCHING: Emily Wong Li Min sprang a surprise on the second day of the 43rd Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championships at the Sarawak Aquatics Centre yesterday when she created the meet's first new record.
The nine-year-old swimmer from Sibu Amateur Swimming Association (Sasa) out swam 13 others to win the Girls Group E 50m breaststroke in a time of 48.44s.
The previous record of 50.97s was set by Sasa's Ivy Ning Chai Yun in Sibu last year when Emily finished third in 52s.
The primary three student of Glow International Academy in Sibu is taking part in eight events in this year's competition and she is looking forward to another good show in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday as breaststroke races are her pet events.
“I expected Emily to win the event but didn't not expect her to break the record,” said her surprised coach Jimmy Lau.
According to Jimmy, he had coached Emily since she was six years old and she had clocked under 50s during training.
“I hope she can also do well in the 100m breaststroke tomorrow. She has improved a lot and she needs to keep working and training very hard to achieve better results,” he added.
Jimmy said Emily had also taken part in the Sibu inter-school and Sibu Age Group Swimming Championship apart from joining the Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi Dr Wong Soon Kai Inter-Club Championship and the Gymkhana Inter-Club Championship.