Letitia Sim sets SEA Games record, but decade's long winning streaks end in the pool for Singapore

BANGKOK: Letitia Sim was the headline act of a two-gold effort by Singapore’s swim team on day one of swimming competition at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, but a number of longstanding winning streaks also came to a halt on Wednesday (Dec 10).

This included the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and the men’s 100m backstroke events, which Singapore have not lost at the Games since 2015.

In the women's 50m breaststroke, 22-year-old Sim timed 31.03, to finish ahead of Thailand’s Jenjira Srisa-Ard, who beat her at the last edition of the Games. Thailand's Saovanee Boonamphai and Malaysia’s Phee Jinq En finished joint-third.

The time is also just shy of Sim’s national record of 30.92, set at the Japan Open in 2023.

"That's a pretty good time for me," said Sim. "The competition is kind of rising this year, which is a good thing for the world to see and make (a) name for Southeast Asia."

In the men’s 100m freestyle event, Mikkel Lee and Quah Zheng Wen took gold and silver in a one-two finish.

This is Lee’s first Games gold in the event. He won the 50m butterfly and was part of the victorious 4x100 freestyle relay quartet at the last edition of the Games.

"There are so many great guys before me that have won this 100(m) freestyle. I'm just glad to add my name to the list," said Lee, who clocked a time of 48.65, a new personal best. 

However, Singapore's swimmers were pipped to the wall in a number of other events.

In the 100m backstroke, Zheng Wen took bronze with a time of 56.04, behind Indonesia’s Jason Donovan Yusuf (55.08) and Farrel Tangkas (55.89).

(I'm) very disappointed, I've been winning this event for five times in a row now. I think I just wasn't recovered enough from the previous event, (and) really felt it towards the