Swimming: Teong breaks 50m fly Asian record at short course World C’ships
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Singapore's Teong Tzen Wei clocked 22.01 seconds to break the short course men's 50m butterfly Asian record on Tuesday.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
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SINGAPORE – National swimmer Teong Tzen Wei has capped a a stellar 2022 season with another milestone at the Fina World Swimming Championships, clocking an Asian record in the men’s 50m butterfly en route to becoming the first Singaporean to qualify for the final of the short-course meet.
The 25-year-old got off to a flying start in Tuesday’s heats at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, touching the wall in 22.01 seconds to eclipse Takeshi Kawamoto’s previous Asian mark of 22.19sec set in 2020.
It was also enough for him to top the heats ahead of Hungary’s world record-holder Szebasztian Szabo (22.07) and Germany’s Marius Kusch (22.19) and qualify for the semi-finals. Teong booked his spot in the final after placing seventh in the semi-finals in 22.18sec.
The sprint specialist has been in stunning form in 2022. At the Hanoi SEA Games in May, he became the first South-east Asian to clock a sub-22 second time in the 50m freestyle.
A month later, he became just the third Singaporean men swimmer to qualify for a final at the world championships – in the 50m butterfly.
He then clinched a silver medal in the same discipline at the Commonwealth Games in July.
National head coach Gary Tan said: “It was a great swim for Teong. He has been working hard to get to where he needs to be.
“The coaching staff at the National Training Centre have also been working well with the sports science team to refine certain points of his race and the result today is a testament to their hard work.”
Meanwhile, Letitia Sim set a national record in the women’s 200m medley on Tuesday after clocking 2min 09.82sec, eclipsing Quah Jing Wen’s old mark of 2:12.58 set at the Singapore National Swimming Championships (short course metres) in 2021. She finished 18th overall in the heats.
The 19-year-old has had a fruitful year, winning three golds, a silver and a bronze at the SEA Games, which was her first international meet.
At the Fina Swimming World Cup in November, she also rewrote the national women’s 100m and 200m breaststroke short-course records.
She said: “I was honestly surprised to find out that swim was a national record. It was my first time swimming it, so I went in not knowing what to expect. I was mostly focused on execution because I had no idea what the splits meant since I usually swim short-course in yards.
“Overall, I am happy with my swim and looking forward to the rest of the meet.”
Teammate Maximillian Ang finished 28th in the men’s 200m medley heats after clocking 1:59.11.
