Monday 23 June 2014

Breaking News : IBSC defended championship title in SportExcel Leg 2


BRAVO to Team IBSC for defending its championship title in the SportExcel Junior Swimmig Circuit 2014, Leg 2 at the Hang Jebat Aquatic Centre in Melaka just yesterday.

The combined score for the top 25 teams as are as follows :-




More news to follow soon, so keep tuning in.

Please download Full Results from the Swim Results page.


Saturday 21 June 2014

Jun Bin grabbed 2 gold and 4 silver in 38th SEA Age Group Swimming Championship 2014

IBSC swimmers who have qualified to the 38th SEA Age Group Swimming Championship 2014 have competed their best in the championship as it was back to back right after SUKMA 2014 in Perlis. The team who travelled back from the most northern state of Malaysia has to immediately make preparation to go down south for the championship.

The annual competition for the South-East-Asia age group was held in Singapore Sports School this year from 6 - 8 June, 2014.

Singapore Sports School
Jun Bin swimming his long distance freestyle event

For the boys 14-15 years, Wong Jun Bin, a scholar in Singapore Sports School, has performed excellently well in his home pool, by winning 2 gold in the 400m IM and 1500m freestyle, whilst getting 4 silver in the events below.


IBSC Swimmer
Age Group
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Wong Jun Bin
Boys 14-15
400m IM
1500m Free
400m Free
100m Fly
200m Free
200m Fly

Desmond Ng
Boys 14-15

200m Breast

Sebastian Soon
Boys U13

200m Fly

Keith Lim Kit Sern
Boys 16-18


100m Fly

Desmond Ng and Sebastian Soon each managed a silver in 200m breaststoke and 200m butterfly respectively, while Keith Lim settled for a bronze in the 100m butterfly event.

Congratulation boys, well done!

See full results here.


Wong Jun Bin
Desmond Ng (left) delighted to be awarded silver in his 200m breaststroke
Coach Shazali proud of Sebastian's silver achievement in 200m fly

View more photos at IBSC Gallery.




Thursday 19 June 2014

My SUKMA Experience - by Ming


In SUKMA XVII, 2014 held in Perlis recently, Ong Ming Fen is the only female swimmer achieving the most medals. With 4 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in her individual events, Ming Fen has stamped a mark of excellence in her return to swim SUKMA for the second time.

Read her story ....



I first joined IBSC back in the year 2000, when my sister, Ong Ming Xiu, joined. However I hadn’t swam anything in Malaysia until SUKMA 2012 in Pahang.

You can only imagine how nervous I was, not only because I was injured and wanted to swim well, but also because I was entering a country where people could speak multiple dialects, and I could only speak English. I remember the day before the bus left; I went to the pool to do a warm up and kept mostly to myself. I felt incredibly out of place and got out of there as fast as I could. As the week unfolded, I became more and more comfortable and opened up due to the kindness of the team. Those of you who have met me will know that I am a little quirky and inadvertently loud. I still remember on Day 3 of the meet the shock and amusement in everyone’s faces as they asked me “How come you weren’t this noisy on the first day?!”. I grew close to many swimmers and made many new friends.

Last SUKMA, I had trained hard and was well prepared. Unfortunately, two weeks before I departed Australia, I fell over running and dislocated my knee. I was devastated! Nevertheless, I came to Malaysia and raced as best I could, pushing through the pain. I ended up with 6 individual silver medals. Although I was proud to have medalled in every event I swam, I knew that if I didn’t have my knee injury I could have gotten a few gold medals and left disappointed and unsatisfied. It took me about 7 months to recover from my knee injury. In training, I was doing mostly pull and almost no dry land work. I was finally given the green light to get back into full training. One week later I was doing weights and I felt excruciating pain in my upper back between my shoulder blade and spine. This resulted in another 10 months out of full training and numerous physios could not pinpoint the actual problem. I could swim no more than 1km a session for about 7 months and again, almost no dry land exercise. FINALLY, in November my pain slowly vanished and joined back for full sessions. I knew I had little time left and that I would have to push hard to be prepared for Age Nationals and Commonwealth Games Trials in Australia. After falling sick and therefore swimming poorly in both meets, my teammates had 2 weeks off, but I only had 3 weeks until SUKMA. So I had 2 days off and started training by myself and with younger squads. Surprisingly, I was feeling quite good in the water and was posting good times in training, feeling confident I would swim close to my PBs. This year, I had less pressure but I was ready to prove myself as more than the “girl who could only get silver” as I was called by reporters.

Leading into this year’s SUKMA, I knew it was going to be close between me and some of my competitors. I had not swum a good meet for a few months, so I was unsure of where my times sat, but after disappointment two years ago, I was hungry for that gold medal. I was slightly more comfortable than the last time because I knew more people. In Australia we race indoors, so the humidity in Malaysia was another thing I had to adapt to. And not to mention, not knowing how my competitors’ races were had kept me on my toes as I didn’t know what to expect from them. I was extremely nervous on my first day, the 100m freestyle. I swam comfortably in the morning but I knew it was going to be a tough race. I went into the finals trying to keep calm but I was extremely excited, knowing that if I went under 59s I would have a good chance. When I touched the wall and looked at the board, I was so happy doing a 0.5s off my PB, achieving the first goal since SUKMA 2012. But I had to calm myself knowing that I had 400m IM shortly after. Concluding the day with three medals, I was very happy with how I had competed.

The next day, was the 200m free, the race I had been targeting. Again I was nervous, because last SUKMA I was narrowly defeated by Chris Tan. Again I had to clear my mind, and again I executed my race plan. However, I had not been expecting a 2s improvement. I was ecstatic!

In the 400m free event, I knew was going to be close between me and Angela Chieng. Her back end is amazing, so I knew I had to take it out hard and try and hold her off the last 50m. At the 300m turn I was hurting a lot and could see her close behind and in my head I didn’t think I could hold her off. After the last turn she had caught up half a body length so I thought I was done but I focused on my technique, limiting my breathing as much as I could and just managed to beat her. It was one of the more painful races.

The last day was 800m free and 50m free. I made a tactical decision to let up on the 800 and focus on the 50. After all, I had won 3 of 3 freestyle races, and considering my training for the past 8 months I knew my fitness would not be where I would like it to be for an 800m event. The 50m was the last event of the meet and it was one that some people didn't expect me to win but eventually I am proud at what I have accomplished when I touched first.



Although Australia is a lot more competitive, it is a good for me to experience racing that is different. Australia is also a lot stricter, so if you haven’t marshalled at least 2 full events before, you may be pulled out and the event amalgamated.  There isn't a cheer squad either. The only people you have cheering is fellow swim mates and parents in an indoor venue that is a lot bigger, so often some of the team spirit is lost at smaller meets.
The Wilayah cheering squad cheering for Wilayah swimmers
I have made some lifelong friends on this trip, not only those who swim in the National Team or for Wilayah, but also from other states. Staying as a team is very important to me as I feel that the support is greater and that the team grows closer.

Thank you to all of you who were present in Perlis; parents, coaches and most importantly my team mates. You made the trip very special!

SUKMA is always a great experience for me, both in and out of the pool and I look forward to SUKMA 2016 in Sarawak. Hopefully I see you all there!

Ming


My WILAYAH Team members

Feeling ecstatic with my relay partners, from left; Tan Rou Ying, Christina, myself and Mak Ai Sin


Also view SUKMA 2014 album at IBSC Gallery.



Wednesday 18 June 2014

The NST : World class- feel

THE public will get a chance to sample some of the world-class facilities and equipment that national athletes enjoy following the opening of the National Sports Council's (NSC) new complex in Setiawangsa.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who declared the complex open on Saturday, wants the facilities utilised by the community of Setiawangsa.

"This is actually an abandoned project because construction started back in 2007.

"Luckily, the new contractors agreed to resume the project in 2011 and the complex -- which is worth RM13.3 million -- is finally completed.

"It will be used mainly by our backup swimmers and athletes. It is getting a little congested in Bukit Jalil," said Khairy.

The Setiawangsa complex is equipped with an Olympic-size swimming pool, a six-lane running track, a football field and a multipurpose hall that houses nine badminton courts.

"This complex is not only used by the backup athletes, it is also open to the public here in Setiawangsa.

"It is free for the first month and if it enjoys good public response, I will bring this matter up in parliament.

"Of course, NSC will prepare the schedules so that public bookings do not clash with the athletes' training sessions," added Khairy.

Also present at the opening ceremony were Setiawangsa member of parliament Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari, NSC director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong, Youth and Sports Ministry chief secretary Datuk Jamil Salleh and City Hall project implementation and maintenance deputy director-general Datuk Mohd Najib Mohd.


Friday 13 June 2014

The Star : Swimmer Lai Kwan back in team for Commonwealth Games

BY TAN MING WAI

KUALA LUMPUR: Chui Lai Kwan, once the fastest freestyle swimmer in South-East Asia, is making a comeback after a three-year absence.

Chui Lai Kwan still holds the national records for the 50m and 100m freestyle as well as the 100m backstroke.

The 24-year-old Sabahan, who quit the national team in late 2011, has been named by the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) as one of the six women swimmers for next month’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“Lai Kwan has proven that she’s still one of the best women’s swimmers in the nation, having excelled in recent meets like the Malaysian Open. She certainly deserves a place in the team to Glasgow,” said Asum honorary secretary Edwin Chong.

“As she is not under the National Sports Council (NSC) programme, she’ll continue to train on her own in preparation for the Games.”

Despite no longer with the national team, Lai Kwan has been competing actively on her own. She still holds the national records for the 50m and 100m freestyle as well as the 100m backstroke.

Lai Kwan was also the only Malaysian swimmer to make the final at the New Delhi Common­wealth Games and Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010.

Edwin said the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) had also given their blessings for Asum to send a 12-member squad to Glasgow although the men’s 4x200m team were the only swimmers to qualify on merit.

Apart from Lai Kwan, the other swimmers picked are Khoo Cai Lin, Cristina Loh, Erika Kong, Yap Siew Hui, Nadia Adrianna Redza Abdullah.

For the men’s team, the six members are Kevin Yeap, Lim Ching Hwang, Vernon Lee, Welson Sim, Shaun Yap and Tern Jian Han.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Commonwealth Games chef-de-mission Datuk Ong Poh Eng visited the swimming and diving teams training at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.


Tuesday 10 June 2014

Team Briefing for SportExcel Leg 2



Dear IBSC swimmers and parents,

Please be informed that during the briefing scheduled on 17 June 2014 (Tuesday) @ 8:30pm. the following will be distributed to swimmers/parents :

- travel itinerary
- school leave letter
- room allocation in Melaka
- location maps of pool and hotels
- certificates for Leg 1 (for those who have yet to collect)

Your attendance is appreciated.

Team Manager (Leg 2)
Zainon Othman



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...