25th SEA Games, Laos

It was double joy for Quah Ting Wen, who not only swept the first gold in swimming for Singapore by winning the women’s 100m freestyle but also had the distinction of setting the first new Sea Games record in the 25th edition of the biennial Games with a time of 56.03s. She rewrote the 10-year-old record of 56.05s set by compatriot Joscelin Yeo in 1999 at the SEA Games in Brunei. Thailand’s J. Natthanan took the silver in 56.33 while another Singaporean Lim Xiang Qi (56.60) settled for the bronze.

“I was rather nervous in the final. There were many other good swimmers. But I was confident of setting a new record if I win the gold,” said Ting Wen.

In the men’s 200m backstroke Singapore struck gold again through Zach Ong with a time of 2:03.27 while the silver was won by Ryan Arabejo of the Philippines (2:04.36) as Rainer Ng also of Singapore won the bronze 2:06.10. Singapore ’s third gold came through Tao Li in the women’s 200m backstroke with a time of 2:17.12 – far below the existing record of 2:16.76 set by Akiko Thomson of the Philippines set in 1993. Thailand’s T. Chavisa settled for the silver with a time of 2:19.87 while Shana Lim of Singapore the bronze in 2:20.98.

Malaysia broke Singapore’s domination in the pool when Siow Yi Ting clocked a fast 2:14.57 on her way to the gold and new Games’ record in the women’s 200m individual medley. The old record stood at 2:17.17 set by Singapore’s Jocelin Yeo in 1999.

Thailand’s J. Natthanan (2:18.98) and Singapore’s Koh Hui Yu settled for the silver and the bronze respectively.


SEAG

KOICA present Swimming Supplies for 25th SEA Game

(KPL) Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) donated swimming supplies to National Swimming Federation for the best record in the 25th Southeast Asia Games.

Hand over ceremony was held on April 30, Vientiane, which the aid was handed over by Ms. Hong Hee Soo, Vice Resident Representative of KOICA, to Mr. Phankham Vongkhanty, Vice President of National Swimming Federation.

The swimming equipments include swimming suits, caps and etc for Lao National Swimming Team worth about US$ 1,900.

Mr. Phankham expressed thanks to KOICA and Korea Oversea Volunteer (KOV) for providing assistance to Laos, he also hoped KOV would further support assistance in the future.

Since 2001, KOICA has been running cooperation programs and has dispatched 187 KOVs to 10 provinces of Lao PDR. At present, 49 volunteers including four doctors, five experts are carrying out their mission and working with in 37 governmental organizations. And KOICA allocated approximately 10 million US dollars to Lao PDR in this year for various cooperation programs.

Vietnam's aquatic sports association sends coaches to Laos

HANOI, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Aquatic Sports Association will send experts to train Lao swimmers for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos, local newspaper Vietnam News reported on Wednesday.

Swimming coach Nguyen Manh Tuan, who competed at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, said he would help Lao athletes to sharpen their skills.

The SEA Games is expected to take place next December. The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has agreed to finance 100,000 U.S. dollars for the SEA Games opening ceremony.