Changes a leap in right direction as Quek breaks national record

A change of coach and training environment worked wonders for Calvin Quek, as the 25-year-old finally broke the national men's 400m hurdles record yesterday after chasing it for four years.

Quek clocked 51.73 seconds at the Singapore Athletics SEA Games Trial 2022 at the Home of Athletics to eclipse the previous mark of 52.44sec set by Ow Yeong Wei Bin in 2019. He credited his performance to his coach Luis Cunha, with whom he has been training since last August.

"My coach and I were expecting it, like there was a chance. But to be able to do it while running alone was honestly quite unbelievable," said Quek, whose previous personal best was 53.08sec.

The Nanyang Technological University student previously worked with a different coach at Nanyang Polytechnic, but that changed when the Covid-19 pandemic struck as he was no longer able to attend training sessions in school.

Instead, Quek trained alone at the Home of Athletics in Kallang, following the workout sets from his coach. But he felt the arrangement was not ideal and sought out Cunha. He said: "When I approached him, I told him that one of my goals was to break the national record, so we've been working towards it. After much consideration, I thought he was the best coach to go to."

He now trains alongside Singapore's top sprinters such as SEA Games gold medallist Shanti Pereira, which is a welcome change from his previous set-up.

Quek is now hoping to make the Hanoi SEA Games team as his time is just 0.13sec off the qualifying mark of 51.60sec. He said: "I'm going to pray very hard that my nomination goes through and if it does, hopefully I can fight for the medal."

Meanwhile, the women's 4x100m relay team, comprising Pereira, Elizabeth-Ann Tan, Kugapriya Chandran and Bernice Liew, failed to meet the Games' qualifying time of 45.17sec, after clocking 46.95sec and 46.86sec in two trial events. They will be appealing to the Singapore National Olympic Council for inclusion.