HERMANN TANG BOK YU REWRITES HISTORY AT MSS SELANGOR AQUATICS 2026
SM Sri Kuala Lumpur swimmer claims nine golds, four records and Best Boy 13–15 — including records nobody saw coming
SM Sri Kuala Lumpur swimmer claims nine golds, four records and Best Boy 13–15 — including records nobody saw coming
KUALA LUMPUR — Hermann Tang Bok Yu arrived at the National Aquatic Centre this week with a reputation as one of Selangor's most feared long-distance freestyle swimmers. He left as something far more difficult to define.
Over four days of competition, the SM Sri Kuala Lumpur (PP) swimmer collected nine individual gold medals, broke four meet records, and accumulated 124 points to claim the Best Boy 13–15 award. The freestyle dominance was expected. What nobody anticipated was what he did in the pool's other corners — backstroke lanes, butterfly races, and a relay heat that took down a record he himself had helped set just twelve months ago.
The Records Nobody Saw Coming
Hermann's reputation is built on the long distances — the 800m, the 1500m, the gruelling events that demand as much mental fortitude as physical. So when he stepped up in Event 116, the 200m Backstroke, and clocked 2:14.40 to erase a mark of 2:17.59, the result raised eyebrows across the pool deck.
The previous record had been held by Melvin Chua Bao Quan since 2004 — twenty-two years ago, set by a swimmer who would go on to become a coach. Hermann wiped it out by 3.19 seconds.
He was not done. Event 222, the 100m Backstroke, produced another record: 1:02.22, trimming 0.65 seconds off Darren Lew Chen Jet's 2019 mark. Then came Event 322, the 200m Butterfly — another event firmly outside Hermann's freestyle identity — where he touched in 2:09.36, breaking Goh Li Jie's 2023 record by 1.26 seconds.
Three records in three non-primary events. For a swimmer known for his freestyle endurance, it was a statement of alarming versatility.
The Relay He Broke Twice
The fourth record carried its own subplot. The Boys 4×100m Freestyle Relay record of 3:52.97 had been set in 2025 by TLS International — a team that included Hermann himself, before he moved to Sri KL. On Day 4, he stood on the blocks again and broke it a second time, clocking 3:48.83 in new colours.
He broke the record he helped set — representing a different school.
What It All Means
Hermann's Q&A after the meet offered a glimpse of perspective beyond the medals. He identified his 200m Butterfly gold as the most meaningful — perhaps unsurprising given that it came in an event where he wasn't supposed to threaten the record board at all.
With MSSM and SUKMA ahead, and international experience already under his belt from the SEA Age Group Championships in Singapore, Hermann Tang's MSSS 2026 campaign will be remembered not just for how many golds he won — but for the fact that he broke records in events that were never supposed to be his.
At 15, he is running out of records to break in Selangor. The bigger stages will come soon enough.
Hermann Tang Bok Yu finished MSS Selangor Aquatics 2026 with 9 golds, 4 meet records and 124 points, winning the Best Boy 13–15 award. He represents SM Sri Kuala Lumpur (PP).
