SEA Games swimming: Singapore men smash 200m freestyle relay record by ...

REPORTING FROM MYANMAR

Quah Zheng Wen (bottom-L) celebrates victory with teammates Joseph Isaac Schooling (top-L) and Pang Sheng Jun from …

Singapore has a rich heritage of gold medal glory in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games men's freestyle relay event – so much so that swimmer Quah Zheng Wen simply "can't imagine losing" in said race.

On Thursday evening at the SEA Games in Myanmar, the 17-year-old joined Joseph Schooling, Danny Yeo and Pang Sheng Jun to do more than preserve Singapore's winning streak.

The four men finished their 4x200m freestyle relay in 7.26.67s, smashing both the national and meet record of 7.30.73 set by Singapore at the 2009 Games in Laos.

It capped a grueling night for Zheng Wen that saw him swim three events within two hours and bag two golds to go – the other being the 400m individual medley which he won by the hair of 0.2s.

In total, Singapore walked away with three golds and three bronzes after the first day of competition at the Wunna Theikdi swimming pool.

"It's definitely difficult swimming back-to -back events at this level," said Zheng Wen. "It's intense, but I managed it and I've got to be satisfied with my results today."

NAY PYI TAW, BURMA - DECEMBER 12: Quah Zheng Wen of Singapore reacts after winning the men 400m individual medley …

Minister Lawrence Wong was in the spectators' stand and he praised the Anglo-Chinese schoolboy for "pushing hard" and "anchoring" the relay team to victory.

Zheng Wen swam the final leg for the eventual champions and drew on all his reserves to produce a neck-to-neck, nail-biting finish that pipped Malaysia in the next lane by less than a second.

"That last 50m was really something," said teammate and first-leg swimmer Schooling.

Medal rush

Proudly watching the race was Quah's older sister Ting Wen, 21, who also scored gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay together with Lynette Lim, Amanda Lim and Tao Li.

The quartet powered home in 8.13.99s, indisputably clear of the 8.19.66 registered by runners-up Thailand.

Ting Wen and Amanda also raced in the 100m freestyle and snagged silver and bronze respectively, but all results were voided after Thailand successfully protested a faulty starting device.

The event will be re-contested on Friday – a move welcomed by Amanda, who said neither she nor Ting Wen were at their best and would seize this second chance to prove themselves.

Earlier Meagan Lim also did well to pick up two bronzes in the 200m individual medley and the 200m backstroke events.

After harvesting three fourth-place finishes at the 2011 SEA Games, the 17-year-old said she was just happy to finally obtain her first Games medals.

Another Singapore athlete satisfied with his bronze was Zach Ong. The 23-year-old eclipsed Zheng Wen in the 200m backstroke despite not having "had the best of preparations".

"I just finished my exams a week ago," the third-year Singapore Management University undergraduate explained. "I was just expecting to stay close to the rest… getting a medal is a bonus, no matter the colour."

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