KUCHING, May 20: Power Aquatics Swimming Club (PASC) swimmers brought home 57 gold, 49 silver, and 44 bronze medals during the 48th Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championship held in Miri from May 13 to 15.
In a media release today, PASC said 32 of its swimmers competed in the event under the Kota Samarahan Amateur Swimming Association (Kotas) banner.
Five of the swimmers won best boys and best girls in their respective categories.
They are Darren Leong (Boys Group B, 13 to 14 years old), Bibienne Ong (Girls Group B, 13 to 14 years old), Dylan Leong (Boys Group C 11 to 12 years old), Jonas Chai (Boys Group E, eight years old and below), and Sheryl Chew (Girls Group E, eight years old and below).
Dylan Leong, a student from St Joseph International School, created two new records in the 100m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke categories.
He clocked 1:13.00 for the 100m Breaststroke, erasing the old meet record of 1:14.20 set by Tan Chong Heng in 2009. As for the 50m Backstroke, he clocked 30.31sec breaking the previous record of 31.39sec set by Eric Chang in 2005.
The team was led by Ngo Sie Haw.
PASC president Kapitan Tan Kun Gee said he was very proud of the swimmers’ achievement despite the short training period.
“The advantage they have is that they are still young and have many more opportunities to participate in future competitions at local and national levels.
“If they can have more training and competitions, I believe our swimmers will get the best results, especially now that PASC has already successfully engaged a foreign professional swimming coach, Qiu Li, from China,” he said, adding the coach has helped the swimmers improve on their techniques.
Meanwhile, 151 pupils from 26 primary schools will be competing in the 5th PASC Inter-Primary School Swimming Competition at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre here on May 22.
“We see a reduction in participation compared to previous editions, but I am confident that this will improve as we see the gradual return to sports with outdoor facilities re-opening and children returning to schools.
“For the first time in almost two and a half years, we are set to return to full-scale competitions,” Tan said in the statement.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has been invited to close the event. — DayakDaily
