Sarawak elite programme swimmers make a splash

KUCHING: Sarawak swimmers raised the stakes at the recent 55th Milo/Pram Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championships at Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur from March 7-10. The 23 swimmers bagged four gold, eight silver and 13 bronze medals in individual events and two silvers in team events.

Sarawak was eventually placed 9th overall in the medal tally which included 7 other states and 9 other countries including Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand.

“We are very happy with the outstanding performance of our swimmers in this Meet. Despite some of them not winning any medals, the majority of them have shown improvement.” said Elite Programme head coach Dieung Manggang in an interview.

The 23 comprised swimmers from the National Squad, Sarawak Elite squad as well as local aquatic associations throughout Sarawak. Medal winners included national swimmer Angela Chieng, rising stars such as Hii Puong Wei, Hii Puong Jie, Kelly Teo, Magdalene Lau, Darren Leong and Wilfred Tan.

Puong Wei, Puong Jie, Kelly and Magdalene were among the 12 Elite Programme swimmers who snatched two gold, four silver and six bronze for individual events and two silver for team events.

Puong Wei who grabbed the gold in the 50m butterfly clocking 25.54sec to beat KL’s butterf ly champion Bryan Leong. He also came in second ( 29.62sec) in the 50m breaststroke losing by a touch to 2018 Sukma gold medalist Ng Jing Fu (29.37).

Puong Jie came in second in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1: 02.80 to beat Yap Yong Jie from KL while Kelly and Magdalene came in first and third in the 800m freestyle respectively. Kelly who clocked 9: 56.49 is the only Malaysian swimmer in her age group to swim under 10min. Both Puong Jie and Kelly made the B qualifying times for the upcoming Sea Age Group Championship in the Philippines.

In l i ne wit h the Elite Programme’s long term goal of producing high-calibre swimmers, the swimmers have continued to show promise since the initiative began in 2017. The programme offers eligble swimmers access to various programmes and opportunites to enhance their long-term success.