Persistence pays off for ACS (I)’s Jadon Yoong, who lowers two meet records to clinch swimming gold

SINGAPORE – Just a few years ago, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student Jadon Yoong was having doubts about continuing swimming as he stagnated during the pandemic with limited training opportunities.

But the 18-year-old did not give up and his persistence paid off. He lowered the A Division 50m breaststroke record twice at the OCBC Aquatic Centre en route to the title in his final National School Games (NSG).

While his personal best was below the record, the Year 6 student had gone into the meet without high expectations, as he had lessened his training load up till a month before the competition owing to his studies.

But that did not stop Jadon from clocking 28.75 seconds to win the 50m breaststroke gold on Friday – two days after he lowered the previous mark of 28.92sec, set by Samuel Khoo in 2017, to 28.88sec in the heats.

He finished ahead of teammate Hayden Lin (29.79sec) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College’s (ACJC) Ng Yi Wang (30.10sec).

It was his second title, after winning the 100m breast in 1min 3.64sec on Thursday.

Jadon was determined to do well and he was glad to end his 12th and final year in the school on a high.

He said: “There’s been doubts about my swimming ability over the years and it took a toll mentally because I was questioning whether it was worth continuing.

“It’s (the NSG is) different from regular swim competitions; the atmosphere is so much more lively. Your friends are there to support, so this kind of atmosphere gave me a boost of encouragement to perform better and get into the right state of mind.”

There was also joy for Temasek Junior College’s Lee Shi Jie, who won his first NSG title in the B Div boys’ 100m butterfly in 58.50sec. He had come close several times, including a second in the 200m butterfly on Thursday.

The 16-year-old said: “This win validates my sacrifices over the last few years. This is the first time I managed to get a gold and especially for my school.”

The final day of the competition saw ACS (I) retain their A Division crown to complete a clean sweep of the boys’ overall titles.

Raffles Institution (RI) were the A girls’ champions while Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) claimed the B and C titles.

MGS captain Lim Fang Wen, who was part of the 2022 B Div squad that lost to Raffles Girls’ School (RGS), was pleased with how her team bounced back, especially as several teammates were carrying injuries and falling sick just before the meet.

RGS finished third, behind Singapore Sports School.

Fang Wen, 16, said: “This title was really important to us. Last year we lost it to our rivals, so we were all driven by winning the championship back.

“We all worked extra hard and made sacrifices so that we could win it back.”

ACS (I) needed a final-day surge to reclaim the B Div boys’ title with 220 points, just five points ahead of RI, who had ended their 11-year winning streak in 2022.

ACS (I)’s Damien Soo, 15, said: “After last year’s disappointing B Division, we tried to encourage each other.

“We tried our best to support each other during the hard training sessions so that we can do better.

“I actually didn’t know that we were in front until the very last part before the relay.

“We were really excited but we made sure not to get too hyped such that we throw the relay.”