You are here: Home > News & media > Media >
Monthly archives
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22 May 2006
Click here to see photos of the swimming championship!
Canossian School walks away with Overall Best Team Performance at Singapore Press Holdings Foundation National Junior Swimming Championship 2006
A total of 139 young disabled swimmers vied for national honours at the Co-Curricular Activities Branch Swimming Complex along Evans Road today, as the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Foundation made its first foray into disability sports.
Canossian School, which provides education for hearing impaired children, went home as the champion of Best Overall Team Performance, beating its runner-up, Grace Orchard School, by 200 points.
The Singapore Press Holdings Foundation National Junior Swimming Championship is the first event to kick off under the partnership between the SPH Foundation and Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC), which was sealed in a Memorandum-of-Understanding Signing Ceremony, held on 15 May 2006.
This partnership makes Singapore Press Holdings Foundation a developer sponsor of the Junior Athlete Development Programme (JADP) in Swimming, and the first developer sponsor of disability sports in Singapore.
The programme has been given a good headstart. Out of six individual champions who emerged from the championship, three were athletes training under the Junior Athlete Development Programme in Swimming.
Lee Shi Xin (intellectually disabled) took away Individual Champion of the ‘A’ Division boys. Sharon Wong (intellectually disabled) became Individual Champion of the ‘A’ Division girls and Kristine Quek (suffering from spinal cord ishichema) was Individual Champion of the ‘C’ Division girls.
The JADP targets to provide more opportunities for the disabled to take part in sports and recreation, and raise the community profile of disability sports here.
This year’s swimming championship was participated not only by its usual participants from special schools and voluntary welfare organisations but also, mainstream schools. Students from Balestier Hill Secondary School and Temasek Primary School competed. Isaac Tay (Physically Disabled) from Temasek Primary School went home as the Individual Champion of the ‘C’ Division boys.
The Singapore Press Holdings Foundation National Junior Swimming Championship is one of the key avenues for selecting the best junior swimmers for the Singapore Sports School and to spot other talented amateurs to enter into the national training regime. Theresa Goh was introduced to competitive swimming at a swim meet organised by the Council when she was eleven. She has since gone on to become Singapore’s star disabled swimmer and had just narrowly missed the 100 m breaststroke world record for her disability classification recently in April. Theresa was present today to lend support to her juniors.
Isaac Tay, 11, broke two records in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke with significantly good timings. He is one of the talents which the Singapore Disability Sports Council will be inviting to join the national training regime.
Mr Henry Tan, Vice-President of the Singapore Disability Sports Council, and Mr Arnold Gay, Deputy General Manager of the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation were also at the swimming championship today to support all young disabled swimmers.
About some young national swimmers who attended the swimming championship
Yip Pin Xiu (14) - Muscular Dystrophy
Barely 14, Pin Xiu is one of the young swimmers who is highly rated and dubbed to be the next Theresa Goh. She has improved tremendously under the Junior Swimming Programme. In fact, at the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games last year, which saw the participation of many international participants, Pin Xiu managed to win a medal. To her, age is no barrier. Pin Xiu’s disability classification and age rendered her events new at the championship. Therefore, she set three new records in total. She also achieved a personal best in her pet event - 50m Freestyle.
Khristin Quek (12) - Spinal Cord Ishichema
Khristin is en route to becoming a skilled violinist and a national swimmer. However, when made to choose her preferred activity, she does not hesitate when she answers “swimming”. Khristin has grown stronger in stature since she started swimming trainings with the Singapore Disability Sports Council, and although she is 12 this year, her recent records show that she is getting closer to competing in international competitions. She looks up to seniors like Theresa and Lim Keng Joo and hopes that one day, she can be like them. Khristine broke two records at the championship (previously set by Yip Pin Xiu, who has graduated from ‘C’ Division to ‘B’ Division).
Lee Shixin (18) - Intellectually Disabled
Intellectual disability is an extremely hard disability to work with when it comes to sports. Nevertheless, Shixin’s talents shone through during a swimming championship organised by SDSC and eventually got talent-spotted. A shy boy by nature, he trains very hard and is proud of his achievement. The Development Programme has definitely given him a sense of belonging and allows him to show others that he is equally serious when it comes to training.
Shi Xin broke a record in 50m Breaststroke.
Results of SPH Foundation National Junior Swimming Championship 2006
Best Overall Team Performance
Champion – Canossian School
1st Runner-up – Grace Orchard School
2nd Runner-up - AWWA
About the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation
The Singapore Press Holdings Foundation, a registered charity and an Institution of Public Character, was first set up as the Press Foundation of Singapore in January 2003 to help build a lifelong learning community that embraces language enrichment, creativity, diversity, healthy living and sports. The seed contribution of $20 million to the Foundation came from media group Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. It was renamed Singapore Press Holdings Foundation in May 2005. For more information, please visit the Foundation’s website at http://www.sphfoundation.org.sg.