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Singapore’s swimmers bring home first 2 medals from 9th FESPIC Games

Media Release
26 Nov 2006

Theresa Goh broke the FESPIC record in 50m Freestyle for S5 category, while Lim Keng Joo won a silver medal in 100m Backstroke for S9 category.

Despite being only the second day of the KL ’06 9th FESPIC Games, Singapore has already brought home two medals by Paralympic hopefuls, Theresa Goh Rui Si and Lim Keng Joo. Keng Joo won the first medal for Singapore, when he scored silver in the 100m Backstroke for S9 category, while Theresa took the first gold medal for Singapore, when she won the 50m Freestyle for S5 category this afternoon.

For her win, Theresa also once again secured her position as the best in the Asia Pacific and Oceania region for the event, as her performance of 44.26s again broke the FESPIC record (44.97s), which was only recently broken in July this year by herself during the DSE Long Course Championships 2006 in Sheffield, England.

This is a good start for Singapore and also, for the two swimmers, as they warm up to their competition form before flying off to a Beijing 2008 qualifier in South Africa on 29 November. Theresa and Keng Joo will be battling for Beijing 2008 slots in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Swimming Championships in Durban, South Africa. They will be traveling there with coach Ang Peng Siong, and fellow swim-mates – Yip Pin Xiu, who is barely aged 14, and Dr Wong Meng Ee. Pin Xiu and Meng Ee are also currently in Kuala Lumpur for the 9th FESPIC Games, and Pin Xiu is showing much potential after scoring a new personal best in 50m Freestyle for the S4 category today.

Singapore is also doing well in the other sports which have started their events. The lawn bowls team have entered their second day of competition, and two teams out of three (B6 Men Pair and B6 Women Pair) will be entering semi-finals tomorrow. Although this is the first international competition for the lawn bowls team, their performances against strong opponents like Malaysia and Japan has been very striking. The B6 Men Pair players who will be entering the semi-finals tomorrow are Bakhia Bin Hashim and Choong (from Korea), while the B6 Women Pair players are Yap Sook Ling and Poh Gwat Eng.

Singapore’s boccia team went up against leading countries in the sport like Korea, Japan and Hongkong. Although most players were unable to score victory in the tough battles against their experienced counterparts, Jeralyn Tan Yee Ting, who has been playing Boccia for the past six years, won over her Macau opponent, Leong Wai Seng, with a score of 13-1. The boccia team will continue their matches tomorrow, as they need to complete five matches before qualifying for the knockout rounds, where the best eight from each category will compete in.

The sailing team has completed their second race today and as of time of release, Jovin Tan Wei Qiang, student of ITE College East, is holding second place after Australian Duncan MacGregor in the Men Single 2.3 Access Dinghy event. Joanne Toh Soon is leading in Women Single 2.3 Access Dinghy, leaving behind opponents from Australia and China in the wake. In the Men Single Access Liberty category, Abdul Karim is in second place in a tie with China, after Malaysian sailor Mustaffah Junell. Desiree Lim is in second place in the Women Single Access Liberty category, after China sailor Ding Zhi Yun. The sailors have two more days of aces to go before the winners are determined.

FESPIC records
Breaking the FESPIC record means that the athlete has broken the record set by a person who is from the Asia Pacific and Oceania region. This record could be set anywhere in the world, but is considered a FESPIC record as long as the record is set by someone who originates from the Asia Pacific and Oceania region.

Breaking a Games record is, however, different, as it means that the athlete has broken the record set by someone in the previous Games. Most major sports competitions do not focus on breaking Games records. The norm and higher standard would be to use the regional record as the benchmark; in this case, the FESPIC record.

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If you’d like more information on the above, please contact

Kelly Fan
Corporate Communications Officer
Singapore Disability Sports Council
Office: +65 6342 3503 Handphone: +65 9007 8669
Handphone in Malaysia: +60 017-7135629