Quah third in 200-yd fly as Cal Bears secure NCAA title

Quah Zheng Wen on his way to the 2017 SEA Games 200m butterfly gold in Kuala Lumpur. He clocked 1:39.68 to earn the 200 yards fly bronze medal at the NCAA Division I championships in Austin, Texas.
Quah Zheng Wen on his way to the 2017 SEA Games 200m butterfly gold in Kuala Lumpur. He clocked 1:39.68 to earn the 200 yards fly bronze medal at the NCAA Division I championships in Austin, Texas. LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE PHOTO

National swimmer Quah Zheng Wen finished third in the 200-yard butterfly final at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday.

The University of California, Berkeley third-year student clocked 1min 39.68sec at the short-course meet in Austin, Texas behind defending champion Andreas Vazaios of North Carolina State University (1:38.57) and Vini Lanza of Indiana University (1:39.63).

Quah, 22, had swam 1:40.21 in the heats to finish second in his heat and fifth overall.

In the final, he led after the first 50 yards before both Vazaios and Lanza overtook him in the last 50 yards to end ahead.

On Friday, Quah had finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly 45.06sec.

In his NCAA debut in 2017, he was second in the 200-yard butterfly and fifth in the 100-yard fly.

He had finished sixth in the longer event last year.

The Cal Bears also clinched their first NCAA title since 2014.

For the past four years, they have finished second to the University of Texas, Austin, from which Olympic champion Joseph Schooling recently graduated.

Meanwhile, fellow Singaporean Lionel Khoo clocked 1:56.61 in the 200-yard breaststroke to finish 43rd in the heats.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 01, 2019, with the headline Quah third in 200-yd fly as Cal Bears secure NCAA title. Subscribe