Letitia Sim sets new national record, but just misses out on Singapore’s first swim medal at 2023 Asian Games

HANGZHOU: Letitia Sim broke her own national record in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the 2023 Asian Games on Wednesday (Sep 27), but still fell short of earning Singapore’s first swim medal in Hangzhou.

At the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre’s aquatic arena, Sim finished fourth with a time of 1:07.13, behind the Japanese pair of Reona Aoki (1:06.81) and Satomi Suzuki (1:06.95) and Chinese swimmer Yang Chang (1:07.01).

In the morning’s heats, the Singaporean equalled her national record of 1:07.27, qualifying second.

Sim has been in fine form at the Games. On the first day of competition, she set a new national record of 31.15s en route to finishing seventh in the 50m breaststroke.

In the final race on Wednesday evening, Sim partnered Jonathan Tan and the Quah siblings Jing Wen and Zheng Wen to place fourth in the mixed 4 x 100m medley relay, breaking the national record in the process.

Finishing behind China, Japan and South Korea, the quartet clocked 3:49.73, eclipsing the previous mark of 3:51.72 that was set in May.

Several other Singapore swimmers also made it to the finals on Wednesday.

Sim's younger sister Levenia competed in the women's 100m backstroke, finishing seventh with a time of 1:01.89.

Jing Wen and Zheng Wen also competed in the women's and men's 100m butterfly events respectively, although neither performance was enough to medal.

Glen Lim and Ardi Zulhilmi Azman participated in the men's 200m freestyle, finishing outside the top six.

The Games were officially opened by China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday night, after being delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the last edition in 2018, the Singapore swim team won six medals, including two golds. Team Singapore's overall contingent finished with