Swimmers eyeing Olympic 'A' timings
Four swimmers met Olympic "B" timings at the Liberty Insurance 51st Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships Major Games Qualifier, which kicked off at the OCBC Aquatic Centre yesterday.
With four months to go before the Tokyo Games, Jonathan Tan won the men's 100m freestyle in 49.69 seconds, well below the "B" mark of 50.03 and 1.12sec adrift of the Olympic "A" time, while Darren Chua finished second in 49.92.
While they were glad their efforts have secured them a spot in this year's SEA Games, both Tan, 19, and Chua, 21, said their main aim had been to qualify for the July 23-Aug 8 Olympics.
"We were aiming for the Olympic A-cut, that's the main priority... but this is a good baseline to look at what we need to focus on ahead of the Olympic qualifiers," said Chua who won five gold medals at the 2019 SEA Games.
Another male swimmer who met the "B" timing was Ong Jung Yi in the 200m butterfly, with his race-winning time of 1min 58:71sec falling short of the "A" mark of 1:56.48.
In the women's 100m freestyle, Christie Chue was 1.51sec away from the "A" cut of 54.38.
She finished second in 55.89, while Cherlyn Yeoh and Quah Ting Wen clocked 56.08 and 56.30 respectively.
Spanish swimmer Carmen Weiler Sastre of Nexus Swim Team won the race in 55.10sec.
The swimmers will have another opportunity to book their ticket to Tokyo at the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June.
It will be their last shot, unless they are able to compete at overseas meets.
- NARENDAREN KARNAGERAN
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