Sarawak Masters splash to victory in the pool
KUCHING: Sarawak Amateur Masters (SWAM Buaya) emerged as champions of the Speedo Malaysia International Masters Swimming Championship at the Sarawak Aquatic Centre in Petra Jaya yesterday.
The 77-strong team amassed a total of 1,559 points to beat eight other teams in the one-day meet hosted by Sarawak for the first time.
New Wave Swimming Club from Kuala Lumpur, who fielded the second largest number of 52 swimmers, came in second place with 1,391 points while in a distant third were Chinese Swimming Club of Penang with 181 points.
The fourth to ninth positions were occupied by Hong Kong Swordfish Club with 143.5 points, Singapore Swimming Club with 141 points, Penang Swimming Club with 132 points, Pusat Sukan Tumpuan of Penang with 107 points, Aquashark Swimming Club with 85 points and Mahesh Karunarathan Aquatics of Sri Lanka with 71 points.
Amateur Swimming Association of Sarawak (Asas) president Dato Wee Hong Seng gave away the prizes.
Also present were Sarawak Sports Corporation acting chief executive officer Gordon Hon, who represented SSC CEO Dr Ong Kong Swee, and Speedo operations manager Sujatha Balakrishnan.
Wee, when interviewed, thanked Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) for entrusting Asas to host the event, Speedo for being the sponsor and congratulated the organising committee for a job well done.
“To me, this is not only a Masters swimmers championship but looked more like a reunion for the swimmers from all over the country and from other countries. Not many sports are having such continuity,” said Wee who was pleased to note that 39 new records were set in the championship.
“Congratulations to Sarawak Amateur Masters for winning this championship and I hope they can continue to compete in future championships.
“I also hope the State government can assist the Sarawak Masters swimmers if they go outside the state to compete,” he added.