Maximillian Ang Clinches SEA Games Spot on Day 3 of Ajinomoto/aminoVITAL 16th SNSC Invitationals

Jun 25

SINGAPORE, 25 JUNE 2021- Day 3 of the Ajinomoto/aminoVITAL 16^th Singapore National Swimming Championships (SNSC) Invitationals (Major Games Qualifier) on Friday saw another swimmer clinch his place at the SEA Games 2021.

Maximillian Ang, 20, from Aquatic Masters Swim Club (AMSC) clinched his spot at the SEA Games with a stunning swim in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, touching the wall first in a time of 1:01.87s, well under the SEA Games “A” Cut time of 1:01.98s. Maximillian’s time was also just shy of the National Record of 1:01.61s set by Lionel Khoo in 2018. AquaTech Swimming’s (ATS) Pang Sheng Jun was second in 1:03.79s and fellow ATS club mate Hayden Lin was third in 1:05.40s.

Maximillian had also rewritten his own National Record in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke on Monday.

Christie May Chue, 21, of Chinese Swimming Club (CSC) made it a clean sweep of the breaststroke events when she won the Women’s 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1:10.42s. She was 0.03s faster than second placed Lucie Gray of Aquatic Performance Swim Club (APSC), who clocked 1:13.72s. Alicia Soosai of Swimfast Aquatic Club (SAC) was third in a time of 1:14.19s.

Butterfly specialist Ong Jung Yi came from behind to defeat Teong Tzen Wei in the Men’s 100m Butterfly to retain the Chan Ah Kow Cup, awarded to the Singaporean winner of the event. The 20-year-old CSC swimmer clocked a time of 52.98s to touch the wall first, ahead of Teong, of ATS, who touched in 53.17s. Randall Neo, also of CSC, clocked 55.39s to finish third.

“I’m really happy with my swim today. I felt that this was one of my best races, where I did not make any mistakes, in short it was a perfect race for me. I’m really happy because I was relaxed and enjoyed my swim, as compared to my race on Wednesday”, said Jung Yi.

He added, “The main difference was that I realized that the 200m Butterfly on Wednesday was the best chance of me making the Olympics, if I could do it, and I think the unnecessary stress really got to me where I could not focus on my strokes. With the one day break in between, I told myself to unwind and not think too much about my swim, just relax and try my best to enjoy my swim and that was the attitude that I brought forward today and I really enjoyed my swim today.”

In the Women’s 100m Butterfly, top seed Nicholle Toh of Ace Swim Club (ACE) showed her dominance, leading from start to finish to clock 1:01.40s to clinch victory. Marina Chan of CSC was second in a time of 1:02.43s, while Nicholle’s teammate, Stephanie Kwa, touched home in third place in a time of 1:05.04s

19-year-old Gan Ching Hwee won her second Kee Soon Bee Cup, awarded to the Singaporean winner of the Women’s 400m Freestyle, when she blitzed the field to touch the wall first in a time of 4:15.70s. The SAC swimmer also previously won the trophy in 2018. 2019 winner Ashley Lim of Singapore Swimming Club (SSC) was second in a time of 4:24.46s, with Candice Ang of APSC in third place in 4:37.18s.

Glen Lim, of ATS, and current national record holder, was first in the Men’s 400m freestyle when he clocked a time of 3:54.65s. Ardi Azman of Aquarian Aquatic School (AAS) was second in 4:01.96s while Mikey Adeney of Nexus was third in 4:06.79s.

Rising star Gabriel Koo of APSC clinched a SEA Games “B” Cut with a time of 2:04.83s in the Men’s 200m Backstroke. The 16-year-old overtook Donovan Lee in the last 50m to touch the wall first. Lee, of ATS, finished second in 2:05.71s, and Zackery Tay of ART Aquatics (ART) was third in 2:09.64s.

Katie Henderson of Tanglin Trust Merlions won the Women’s 200m Backstroke final with a time of 2:20.76s. Runner up Bonnie Yeo of CSC clocked 2:24.95s, while third placed Carol Rachmadi of APSC finished in 2:25.47s.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this year’s Ajinomoto/aminoVITAL16^th SNSC Invitationals (Major Games Qualifier) has restricted numbers, with the top 24 swimmers per gender per event invited to participate in the meet, which serves as the final qualifying meet for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, and also for the SEA Games 2021, Asian Youth Games 2021 and FINA World Championships 2021 and 2022.

Day 4 of the meet will see the Men’s and Women’s 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle and 400m Individual Medley.

With the event a closed-door event, fans can catch the live streaming of the finals on Singapore Swimming Association’s (SSA) Facebook page, from 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.