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| Lim Ching Hwang |
KUALA LUMPUR: Lim Ching Hwang showed he is on track for a smashing outing in August’s Asian Youth Games (AYC) in Nanjing after ending his campaign in style in the National Age-Group Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
The 16-year-old clocked an impressive 1:51.83 en route to winning the boys’ 15-17 200m freestyle gold. His time is much faster than the 1:52.22 recorded by the gold medallist at the last AYC in 2009.
Sarawakians Welson Sim and Vernon Lee, who are both based at the Bukit Jalil Sports School, settled for silver (1:55.00) and bronze (1:56.01) respectively.
Ching Hwang, who trains and studies at the Singapore Sports School, returned to the pool moments later and sped to victory in the 50m freestyle in 23.82.
He was also on hand to lead the Selangor team to slash more than five seconds off the 4x100m medley record. Ching Hwang, Wong Tzi Rok, Shaun Yap Kah Choon and Chan Jie clocked 3:54.29 to finish well ahead of Hong Kong (3:55.54) and Sarawak (4:08.35).
With four golds in the bag in the three-day championships, Ching Hwang left for Singapore last night exhausted but happy. He also competed in the Singapore National Age-Group Championships two weeks ago.
“I still have a competition starting tomorrow (today) as I have to swim in the national schools meet there. I take the races as a challenge as it gets me in the competition mode,” said Ching Hwang.
Ching Hwang has a chance to be Malaysia’s first-ever gold medallist in the AYC, which is for athletes from 15-17 year olds, and he is relishing the chance to do so.
“I always try my best. There is a chance for me to fight for a win and I am looking forward to taking on the swimmers from China, Japan and South Korea,” he said.
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