Sabah swimmers blaze to 3rd place in swimming c’ship
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah put up an encouraging showing by finishing third overall in the 2nd ASUM/NSC/MILO Mid & Long Distance Swimming Championship recently.
The 11-member state squad bagged eight gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals in the championship held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
With that, Sabah accumulated 350 points to finish behind two Kuala Lumpur-based teams, champions Ikan Bilis Swimming Club (998 points) and DSA Swimming Club (668.50 points).
Sabah’s swimmers also set new meet records while two of the athletes clinched the overall winner titles in their respective age group.
Competing in the boys’ over 18 age group, Hollymax Bell, 19, swam a perfect race by winning two gold medals in record times in both events, which saw him clinch the overall title for the category.
In the boys’ 15-17 category, Wong Venn Chieh, 17, also won the overall champion title after winning three gold and one bronze medals. He also set three meet records.
Teammate Kuin Jiu Jun, 17, delivered one silver and two bronze medals in the same age group.
There were more medals for Sabah swimmers as Eric Bong, 13, bagged two silver in the boys’ 13-14 age category while in the girls’ event, Lovell Wong Hsiao Thang, 14, won one silver and three bronze medals and Thein Oi Yee, 15, won one silver.
Sabah also shone in the 11-12year-old category for boys where three more gold medals were won.
Ian Chin, 13, won two gold and two silver to finish as the category’s first runner-up while Gasten Gan, 13, bagged one gold and one silver. Both also set one new meet record each.
In the girls’ competition for the same age group, the squad’s youngest swimmer, Chu Xin Ying, 12, brought home one silver and three bronze medals.
Ian, Gasten and Xin Ying as well as Yong Ming Li, 13, then delivered the silver medal in the mixed relay team race.
The other swimmer in the squad was 13-year-old Jemimah Tong.
There were 22 teams in the championship with a total of 262 participants where Daniel Lee led the state squad as the team manager alongside Sabah Sports Council coach Tammy Tie.
Sabah Aquatic Sports Association (SASA) president Anthony Kiob congratulated all the swimmers for their achievements and hoped the taste of success would further motivate them to pursue greater results in future swim meets.
In a statement to the press yesterday, Anthony also applauded the efforts and hard work of all the coaches and parents, and he urged them to keep it up as they shared a common goal to produce champions of the highest calibre.
Towards this end, Anthony also extended his warmest thanks to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Sabah Sports Council for their constant support for the state’s aquatic fraternity.