Brandon Yap and Julian Lee break national records at S’pore National Swimming Short Course Invitational

SINGAPORE – Less than a month before the Sept 19 to Oct 4 Asian Games in Japan, two national records were broken by Asiad debutants at the Singapore National Swimming Short Course Invitational over the weekend.

On Aug 29, Brandon Yap topped the men’s 200m butterfly heats in a blistering 1min 55.99sec to surpass the previous mark set of 1:56.42 set by Ong Jung Yi in 2021.

The 20-year-old won the final later that day at the OCBC Aquatic Centre in 1:56.21, while Dylan Wu (2:04.92) finished second and Choo Liang Rong (2:06.35) third.

Yap, who represents Aquarian Aquatics and is slated to swim in the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly events in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan, said: “Going into the race, my goal was to break the national record. However, I did not expect to do it in the heats given the intensity of my training this past week. So to be able to do that was a positive surprise.

“I think that being able to break the record – and swimming fast in the morning is something I have been working on this past year – I hope that this will give me confidence going into the Asian Games given the fierce competition I will have to face to secure a spot in the final.”

On Aug 30, Julian Lee won the men’s 200m backstroke final in 1:55.01 to smash Zackery Tay’s previous national record of 1:56.70 set in 2024. Ian Kwek (2:09.75) and Carter Boicey (2:16.48) rounded off the podium.

Lee, who represents Chinese Swimming Club, noted the difference between the local meet and the long-course Asiad.

The 18-year-old, who is pencilled in for the men’s 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly events at the Asian Games, said: “I just wanted to give my best shot and focus on my execution and what I’ve been working on in training, like my starts, my turns and my stroke balance.

“I’m really pleased to come out with a national record, and it shows me that I’m in the right direction going into the Asian Games. Even though I’m not competing in the 200m at the Asian Games, 200m training plays a really huge role in my 100m training. I’m quite excited to see what’s to come.

“The short course is a much faster race, but these tiny details like the turns, the underwaters, will have a significant impact on my long-course 100m backstroke race, especially because it’s a really fast race as well.

“My target for the Asian Games is to make the final and do my country proud.”