Brunei swimmers, Muhd Isa Ahmad, Tiara Shahril Anwar, Christian Nikles, Nur Haziq Samil and Ashley Chai in Singapore. Courtesy of Eric Landa.
Brunei swimmers participating in the 38th Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Singapore set new national records in several categories.
According to a press release by National aquatics head coach, Eric Landa, Nur Haziq Samil broke three national Age Group records while Ashley Chai also broke three national Age Group records and one national Open record.
According to a press release issued by National Aquatic Coach, Eric Landa, as much as he would like to say that it was a fantastic championship for Brunei, it wasn't for all the swimmers. Both Ashley and Haziq did perform well according to the plan and Landa is happy with that.
"It's good to see the next generation knocking on the door and good to see Ashley breaking her first Senior/Open record. "I would say to keep on going and keep on pushing yourself, let this be the beginning," said Landa in the press release.
"The older swimmers who are Tiara Shahril Anwar, Mohd Isa Ahmad and Christian Nikles did not perform too well," he continued. "In the case of the Mohd Isa and Christian, it was clear that school exams played a huge part in their preparation as they have not been able to train 100 per cent of the sessions, due to examinations for the past two months.
"It simply became a matter of priorities, are their priorities with school or with swimming. The result speaks for itself." "In Tiara's case, we have to rethink her preparation and make some changes to ensure her next performance jumps, as this will be much needed in the nearby future for her to keep the other competitors within sight," the Dutchman concluded.
Nur Haziq first broke the 400m free stroke achieving a new national Age Group record with a time of 4.46.01. He then set a new 100m backstroke national Age Group record with a time 1.09.94.
Nur Haziq also broke another of his records, a new national Age Group record in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2.30.20. Ashley also set a new national 200m backstroke Age Group record 2.41.12.
Ashley set a new 200m backstroke national Open record with a time of 2.41.12, bettering Nur Hamizah Ahmad's mark of 2.42.32.
