Singapore wants to break the swimming gold medal record at the 32nd SEA Games
Swimming has always been Singapore's gold mine at every SEA Games. At the congress in Vietnam in 2022, Singapore won 21 out of 47 gold medals of the whole delegation. In particular, the men's swimming team won eight gold medals in 20 events, while the women's team won 13 out of 20.
However, the above achievement is considered to have failed to meet the target, because Singapore lost the gold medal in the women's 50m freestyle and the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. Coach Gary Tan said the Singaporean fishermen want to reclaim what they have lost with the goal of winning at least 23 gold medals at the 32nd SEA Games and aspire to surpass the record.
In the women's event, in addition to defending 13 gold medals, Quah Ting Wen and Amanda Lim aspire to win the 50m freestyle gold medal, which belongs to Jenjira Srisaard of Thailand. Meanwhile, in the men's events, Singapore also wants to reclaim the number one position after falling into the hands of Vietnam - the team that won 11 gold medals at the 31st SEA Games.
Although Joseph Schooling is no longer available, Quah Zheng Wen can replace the 100m butterfly gold medal. Maximillian Ang Wei and 17-year-old swimmer Nicholas Mahabir will challenge two gold medals of 50m and 100m frogs belonging to Pham Thanh Bao.
Besides, Singapore also wants to win the 4x100m freestyle relay gold medal. At the 31st SEA Games, Singapore finished first in this content and was eliminated because Jonathan Tan made a mistake of starting early, thereby allowing Vietnam to benefit. In addition, the men's 4x200m freestyle relay is also in the sights of Singapore.
"We went through the flu and the virus, but came back in time," coach Gary Tan told the Straits Times. "I want athletes to take this into account and not be complacent."
Not only conquering the SEA Games record, the Singaporean swimmers also set a goal to meet Olympic standards 2024. World Aquatics Federation (World Aquatics) recorded the achievements of international tournaments from March 1, 2023 to June 23. 2024, including the 32nd SEA Games.
In Southeast Asia, some names will qualify for the Olympics if they repeat their achievements such as the 31st SEA Games. This number includes Teong Tzen Wei in the men's 50m freestyle with a record of 21 seconds 93, or Nguyen Huy Hoang in the distance. Men's 1500m freestyle with a time of 15 minutes 0 seconds 75.
The 32nd SEA Games swimming will take place from May 6 to 11 at the Morodok Techo Aquatic Palace, Phnom Penh. Women's swimming has 20 events, while men's swimming is 19 when Huy Hoang's forte men's 800m freestyle is cut.
