Quah Ting Wen Seals SEA Games Spot on Day 4 of Ajinomoto/aminoVITAL 16th SNSC Invitationals

SINGAPORE, 26 JUNE 2021- The penultimate day of the Ajinomoto/aminoVITAL 16^th Singapore National Swimming Championships (SNSC) Invitationals (Major Games Qualifier) on Saturday saw Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen, 29, book her place at the SEA Games 2021.
 
The Swimfast Aquatic Club (SAC) star clinched her place in Hanoi, Vietnam, when she touched the wall first in a time of 55.44s in the Women’s 100m Freestyle final. Cherlyn Yeoh of AquaTech Swimming (ATS) was second in 56.78s while Amanda Lim, also of SAC, was third in 56.79s.
 
“The more immediate focus for this meet for everyone was the Tokyo Olympics, because if we made the Tokyo cuts, then it will also be the SEA Games cuts. It is nice to get the SEA Games qualification out of the way, as that will be one less thing to think about, even though we are not sure if the games are still going to happen. With the qualifying out of the way, we can continue training for it as though it is going to happen, so that we will be prepared when it does happen”, said Ting Wen.
 
She added, “I have been enjoying this meet, it has been more enjoyable compared to other meets, just because of the way I have been approaching this meet, doing the best that we can, to try to put what we have done in training into the race and see if it works and try not to overthink it too much.”
 
It was a 1-2 finish for ATS in the Men’s 100m Freestyle, as Jonathan Tan and Darren Chua came in first and second respectively. Tan, who had already qualified for the SEA Games, clocked a time of 49.10s. Chua clocked 50.01s to join Tan on the ticket to Hanoi, with both swimmers also going under the Olympic ‘B’ Cut mark of 50.03s. The SEA Games ‘A’ qualifying mark is 50.08s. Motohide Mori of Aquatic Performance Swim Club (APSC) rounded out the top three in a time of 50.88s.
 
Carmen Weiler Sastre of Nexus won the Women’s 100m Backstroke in a time of 1:00.89s, a full 5s ahead of second placed finisher Katie Henderson of Tanglin Trust Merlions, who clocked 1:05.66s. Carol Rachmadi of APSC was third in a time of 1:07.96s.
 
Donovan Lee of ATS was fastest in the Men’s 100m Backstroke, touching the wall first in 57.30s. National U-17 Record holder, Gabriel Koo, of APSC, was second in 57.38s and Christian Low, also of APSC, took third place in 1:00.21s.
 
16-year-old Ashley Lim of Singapore Swimming Club (SSC) had a fantastic swim in the Women’s 400m Individual Medley, as she led from start to finish, finishing first in a time of 5:01.60s. Clydi Chan, of APSC, clocked 5:12.18s to finish second and APSC teammate Lucie Gray was third in 5:17.40s.
 
There was an APSC 1-2-3 finish in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley. Ephraim Tan was victorious in a time of 4:36.55s, with Ritchie Oh second in 4:41.85s and Bernard Chan in third in a time of 4:43.72s.
 
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.
 
The final day of the meet will see the Men’s and Women’s 50m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley and the 1500m Freestyle.
 
With the event a closed-door event, fans can catch the live streaming of the finals on Singapore Swimming Association’s (SSA) Facebook page, starting from 5pm on Sunday.