The women’s swimming relay team from Singapore achieved two historic feats on Sunday (18 Feb) as they qualified for the Paris Olympics.
Firstly, they became the first Singaporeans to qualify for a women’s relay at the Olympics.
They also set a new national record for the 4x100m medley relay.
(From left) Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Letitia Sim and Levenia Sim. Source: Simone Castrovillari via Team Singapore on Facebook
The qualification for the Paris Olympics by Singapore’s women’s relay team was announced on Facebook by Team Singapore on Sunday (18 Feb).
The team, made up of Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Letitia Sim and Levenia Sim, were competing at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on the same day.
Though they finished in ninth place, their top 16 spot put them on their way to Paris this July, said Singapore Aquatics.
While the top three teams at last year’s World Aquatics Championships had already qualified, the next 13 teams with the fastest times from last year’s and this year’s event also made the cut, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
The official announcement on qualifications from World Aquatics will be out on 3 June.
On Sunday, the quartet, who are two pairs of sisters, finished the women’s 4x100m medley with a time of 4 minutes and 2.88 seconds.
Source: Simone Castrovillari via Singapore Aquatics on Facebook
This was enough for them to finish in fifth place for their heat, but ninth overall.
Unfortunately, they missed out on the finals in Doha by one spot as they were just 0.25 seconds slower than the Polish team, which came in at 4:02.63.
On the bright side, the Singaporeans’ time of 4:02.88 set a new national record for the event.
The previous record was 4:06.97, set by the Quah sisters, Letitia Sim and Faith Khoo at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia last year.
In qualifying for the Olympics, the Quahs and Sims also notched their names into the Singapore history books.
They are the first Singaporeans to qualify for a women’s relay event at the Olympics.
Source: Simone Castrovillari via Singapore Aquatics on Facebook
This triumph came after Letitia withdrew from the 50m breaststroke event to focus on the 4X100m medley relay, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong in a Facebook post.
Praising the “fierce foursome”, Mr Tong also noted that their qualification came after a setback at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.
During the women’s 4x100m medley relay event, the Singapore team was disqualified after Ting Wen jumped 0.1s earlier during the final freestyle leg.
Heartbreakingly, they had finished third in the race, meaning they lost out on a bronze medal due to the disqualification.
Their qualification for the Olympics is thus a proud comeback after the disappointment.
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Featured image adapted from Simone Castrovillari via Team Singapore on Facebook.
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