Kuching swimmers emerge state age-group champions

KUCHING (Jan 29): Kuching Amateur Swimming Association (Kasa) put up a spirited challenge to wrest the overall crown from Kota Samarahan Amateur Swimming Association (Kotas) in the 50th Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championships which ended at Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre on Sunday.

The 53-strong team captured 69 gold, 43 silver and 27 bronze medals to top the six-team competition held from Jan 26-28.

Kotas finished second (53-73-68) with Miri Amateur Swimming Association (Masa) third (38-28-35).

Lying fourth to sixth positions were Bintulu Amateur Swimming Association (Basa) with 10-14-5, Sibu Amateur Swimming Association (Sasa) with 5-12-21 and Sarikei Swimming Association which did not win a medal.

Kasa earned more honours when their swimmers walked away with five best performer awards.

Hii Puong Jie was named the Best Boy in Group A (Age 15-17) when he bagged six golds, Magdalene Lau Ing Siew the Best Girl in Group A with 12 golds, Shanise Jauwa Joseline Adong the Best Girl in Group B (Age 13-14) with three golds, one silver, three bronzes and breaking three records, Elise Then Yi Xuan the Best Girl in Group C (Age 11-12) with eight golds, one silver and one bronze while Caitlyn Yeo Xuan won the the Best Girl Group D (Age 9-10) with four golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

Other best performers were Cordelia Wong Qiu Han of Masa in Girls Group E (Age 8 & Under) with eight golds, one bronze and one new record), Dylan Leong Yi Quan of Kotas in Boys Group B with eight golds, two silvers, three bronzes and three new records, Bong Yi Xiang of Kotas in Boys Group C with one gold, six bronzes and one new record, Simpson Wong Zheng Hang of Basa in Boys Group D with six golds and one silver, and Muhd Danish Affan Asriza of Kotas in Boys Group E with five golds, three silvers, one bronze and three new records.

The awards were presented by Deputy Minister I of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Gerald Rentap Jabu. Among those present were Amateur Swimming Association of Sarawak secretary Anthony Kong, Kasa president Kelvin Yeo and Kotas president Alice Kwon who were co-organising chairman and Sarawak Sports Corporation sports development officer Dedia Serini Ahmad.

Meanwhile, Kasa team manager William Lai said his team achieved its target of becoming the overall champions after playing second fiddle to Kotas last year.

“We had prepared well for this meet and were very confident of winning and most importantly this year’s championship winner is based on the number of gold medals won unlike in last year’s competition where the winner is decided based on the total number of points collected.

“The team that fields lesser swimmers will be at the disadvantage of winning the overall title,” he pointed out.

Eleven new records were created in the three-day meet while 15 swimmers have qualified for the 60th Malaysian Invitational Age Group (MIAG) Swimming Championships to be held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur in April.