CALL it symmetry, perfection, or just plain coincidence.

Whatever the term, the curtain fell on the Asian Youth Games swimming competition in the same way it had opened five days before - with the stirring strains of Majulah Singapura filling the air.

Once again, Lynette Lim touched home well ahead of her nearest challenger; a gold medal was won and a national record smashed.

The 17-year-old, who won the 400m freestyle on Friday by four body lengths, this time anchored the 4x100m free relay squad to victory in 3min 46.91sec yesterday.

Not only were Singapore well ahead of second-placed South Korea (3:50.56) - supporters were already cheering with half a lap to go - but Koh Hui Yu, Quah Ting Wen, Amanda Lim and Lynette also obliterated the national mark of 3:53.33 set in 2006.

Ting Wen and Amanda had earlier bagged a 1-2 in the 100m free, in a repeat of how the 50m free had panned out the day before.

Ting Wen's 55.57sec swim at the Singapore Sports School was also eight-hundredths of a second better than her national record set three weeks ago.

Far from basking in the glory of their five-gold, two-silver and five-bronze haul however, Singapore's coaches have already cast their eyes on a medal in a far more prestigious arena.

The new 4x100m freestyle relay national record would have been good enough for a bronze at the 2006 Asian Games.

According to AYG head coach David Lim, two of yesterday's quartet will be part of the team gunning for the country's first women's relay medal at the continental level since 1982.

Singapore's strongest 4x100m relay squad at present comprises Ting Wen, 16, Amanda, 17, Mylene Ong, 17, and Tao Li, 19.

David Lim added that the best is yet to come from the 1.74m, 59kg Ting Wen.

'She still doesn't possess the physique and technique for sprints, having made the switch from distance events a year ago,' he said.

The 1.69m, 54kg Amanda is in the same situation.

Her coach at the Singapore Sports School, Peter Churchill, said: 'We haven't chipped away at any of the rough edges yet.

'Amanda still lacks the bulk and muscle, she's really started in the gym only recently.

'The sprints are all about power and speed, and she still has huge potential given her young age.'

The rivalry between Ting Wen and Amanda, who between them have broken the national 50m record five times in the past year, can only be good for Singapore, with the pair pushing each other constantly.

'The results over the past few days have really exceeded our expectations, and it's one of my best competitions so far,' said Ting Wen.

The Raffles Institution (Junior College) student's four golds (50m, 100m and 200m free, 4x100m free relay) make her the Games' most bemedalled athlete, along with South Korean swimmer Chang Gyu Cheol (50m, 100m, 200m butterfly, 4x100m medley).

Gyu Cheol's performances were a key reason for his country topping the swimming medal tally with 11 golds, 12 silvers and five bronzes.

China, the top swimming nation at the last Asian Games in Doha, finished second with five golds, five silvers and seven bronzes.

limze@sph.com.sg