Three meet records fell on the opening day of the 21st SNSC — Mikkel Lee Jun Jie set the tone with a blistering 48.80 in the men's 100m freestyle, Russell Pang dominated the 800m free in 8:08.32, and Yeo Chiok Sze rewrote the women's 50m fly standard at 26.55. Malaysia's Ai Shen Eliza Tan added a national record for good measure, clocking 57.35 in the women's 100m freestyle final.
The first finals session of the 21st Singapore National Swimming Championships is done. Threemeet records fell, one national record was set in the morning, and the Korean contingent announced themselves as the team to beat. Here is how the evening unfolded.
The headline of the night belonged to Lee Mikkel Jun Jie, who broke the Men's 100m Freestyle meet record with a blistering 48.80 — the first sub-49 swim in SNSC history in that event. He backed it up in the Men's 50m Butterfly final, going 23.29 to claim a second gold and come within a whisker of Tzen Wei Teong's meet record of 23.28 set just last year.
In the Men's 800m Freestyle, Pang Russel of Singapore Swimming Club broke the meet record with 8:08.32, edging out a deep field that included international entries from India and Thailand.
On the women's side, Yeo Chiok Sze won the Women's 50m Butterfly in 26.55, setting a new meet record in the process — bettering her own prelim of 26.53 set earlier in the day.
The Hwaseong City Korean squad made their presence felt across the finals programme. Song Imgyu won the Men's 100m Backstroke in 54.99, with compatriot Kim Donghyuk second in 56.46. Jeong Raeyu won the Men's 200m Breaststroke in 2:14.47. The Koreans also took the Mixed 400m Medley Relay, with Hwaseong City clocking 4:02.61.
Gan Ching Hwee of Singapore Swimming Club won the Women's 100m Freestyle in 55.82, with Yeo Chiok Sze second in 56.19. Earlier in the morning, Ai Shen Eliza Tan of Selangor had broken the Malaysian national record in the same event with 57.61 in the preliminaries, then improved to 57.35 in the A Final for third — a record that had stood since 2022.
Neo Joy Ning Suan won the Women's 200m Breaststroke in 2:35.05, just edging out Tay Elle in 2:35.29 in a tight finish. Charoensup Thitirat of Singha Swimming Club Thailand won the Women's 1500m Freestyle in 17:13.53.
In the Women's 100m Backstroke, Millar Mia of Singha Swimming Club took gold in 1:03.15.
Tedd Windsor Chan was the standout performer, completing a clean A Final double. He finished 5th in the Men's 100m Freestyle in 51.42, then came back to clock 56.65 for 3rd in the Men's 100m Backstroke A Final — his best performance of the night.
Tay Zavier made the Men's 50m Butterfly A Final and finished 6th in 25.21, racing alongside some of the fastest butterfliers in the region.
Casey Chua raced in two A Finals — finishing 10th in the Women's 100m Freestyle (59.61) and 7th in the Women's 50m Butterfly (28.82), improving on her prelim in both.
Tan Ryker Hector posted the fastest time in the Men's 100m Freestyle C Final with 54.01 — a clear personal improvement on his morning prelim.
Kang Zhen Tai dropped nearly three seconds from prelim to final in the Men's 200m Breaststroke B Final, going 2:26.95. Fellow SEL swimmer Liew Zeng Wye was alongside him in 2:26.61.
Hermann Tang Bok Yu finished 10th in the Men's 800m Freestyle in 8:51.36 MTS — just two-tenths behind 9th place in a field won by Pang Russel's meet record.
WU Dylan Jiaxu clocked 1:03.89 in the Men's 100m Backstroke B Final. Lim Zhe Quan Lawrencele B Final. followed in 54.03 in the same heat. See Kai En Keagan (56.35) and Chew Wen Yu Titus (57.00) swam the C Final of the same event.
Sam Tzi Ho Kayden did not start in the Men's 100m Backstroke B Final but recovered to go 26.90 in the Men's 50m Butterfly C Final. Yeo Jovan finished the same event in 27.97.
Tay Zackery's ATS A relay team was disqualified for a false start in the Mixed 400m Medley Relay.
Day 2 gets underway tomorrow morning with the Men's and Women's 100m Breaststroke, 200m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke, and the 400m IM. After tonight, expectations are high.