Teong Tzen Wei equals Asian record, a fingertip away from a medal at Fina World Swimming Championships

MELBOURNE: Singapore national swimmer Teong Tzen Wei equalled his Asian record of 22.01 seconds, but lost out on a podium finish by 0.03sec to Hungary’s world record-holder Szebasztian Szabo, who took the bronze. The 25-year-old was that close to winning Singapore a historic Fina World Swimming Championships (25m) medal in the 50m butterfly event held midweek at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Switzerland’s Noe Ponti was second (21.96) while Brazil’s veteran 42-year-old sprinter Nicholas Santos, the defending champion, retained his gold with a meet record of 21.78secs. Teong and Szabo were fastest off the blocks and were second and first respectively at the turn. But powerful finishes by Ponti and Santos saw Teong miss out on a medal by the smallest of margins.

“It’s always bitter to miss out on the podium by so little. But it just gives me and my team more motivation to work harder and see what else we can go out there and achieve,” said Teong, who is the first Singaporean to qualify for a World Swimming Championships (25m) final.

For national swimming head coach Gary Tan, he is pleased to see Teong’s performance in the pool despite having a busy schedule for the 2022 Commonwealth Games 50m silver medalist.

“It’s great to see Teong come through with this solid swim after a really hectic year of competition – the SEA Games, Commonwealth Games and now the world champs,” said coach Tan.

“At 1.75m, he stood tall among the giants in this race, where the average height is about 1.85m. He’s proven to Singaporeans that size doesn’t matter when you focus on details and stay focused in your lane. Kudos to the National Training Centre coaches for keeping Teong primed. As a group, we believe he has what it takes to aim for the world record in the next edition,” added the former national team swimmer who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

“It was an amazing swim, one that has once again put himself (Teong) and Singapore on swimming’s world map. He equalled his Asian record and although it was not good enough for a medal, he still deserves credit for a great performance and all the hard work he’s put in these past few years. I’m convinced we will see even greater things from Teong,” shared Singapore Swimming Association president Mark Chay.

“In fact, all three swimmers at the world champs have done well to register new national records in the opening days.”

The two other national swimmers in the meet are Letitia Sim and Maximillian Ang.  

Ang had rewritten his own men’s 100m short-course breaststroke national record, clocking 58.10sec, just ahead of his previous mark of 58.72sec set last year. He also clocked a time of 2:08.12 in the men’s 200m breaststroke, which is a new national record and his personal best. The 21-year-old who bemedalled in the 2021 SEA Games also broke the national record and clocked a new personal best in the men’s 50m breaststroke with a time of 27.09. 

For 19-year-old Sim, her best performance in the championship was in the women’s 200m breaststroke as she set a new national record and personal best, with a time of 2:21.60. /TISG