Amanda Liew Jia Xin (right) with her family at the Singapore Sports School yesterday. Family support helped the 16-year-old national swimmer break the 50-metre freestyle national record by clocking 28.25 seconds. Picture: BT/Amir Amin

           16-year-old national swimmer.

National swimmer Amanda Liew Jia Xin made up for her earlier disappointment when she finished fourth in her heat yesterday en route to a new national record in the 50-metre freestyle at the Singapore Sports School.

The whole family was present to witness her compete in Heat Five yesterday and Liew said their support helped her to achieve the feat. Liew clocked 28.25 seconds in the event at the Singapore Youth Olympics to erase her old record of 28.64s.

"Yeah, it definitely helped to have them (her family members) here. The last time (Sunday) only my dad was present, but today (Thursday) my dad, mom and two sisters were all here," said the Jerudong International School pupil after her event yesterday.

Amanda's father, Johnny Liew, was proud of his daughter's achievement at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

"It's fantastic because she has been doing her best in training. She has yet to peak and is still on a journey towards getting better," said the swimmer's father, who was happy to have his daughter participate in the Games.

Another person who shared the joy was Liew's mentor, national swim coach Eva Wong.

"It was a very good swim. She was able to break her record which was from a year ago. I was worried that she will never be able to, but I'm happy she did," said Wong when met yesterday.

Despite finishing fourth in her heat Liew's time was not good enough to secure her a berth in the semi-finals. (She placed 33rd among the 52 swimmers in the event).

But it did not dampen her spirit.

"This is a good improvement especially if you compare it to my previous event (at the Games)," said Liew.

She failed to make a splash during her debut at the Games on Sunday clocking 36.51s to finish last among seven participants in Heat Two of the Youth Women's 50m breaststroke event. Her personal best which is also a national record stands at 36.06s.

"There is still much time for improvement. I'm just looking forward to jumping into the pool again," added Liew. Spoken like a true champion.

Courtesy from Brunei Times