Singaporean Quah Zheng Wen lowered his own national record in the 200 back on Saturday at the nation’s National Championships, held at the OCBC Aquatic Center in Singapore.
His clocking of 2:00.45, set in the prelims, lowered his previous record of 2:00.55 done at the SEA Games in 2015.
Quah joined the Cal Bears in January, and went onto post a 1:40 200 fly at the Pac-12 Championships to qualify himself for NCAAs. There he finished in the runner-up position in the 200 fly in a time of 1:38.83, the fourth fastest swim in history. He also placed 5th in the 100 fly, and swam the prelims of Cal’s 400 medley relay that went onto finish 2nd.
Quah stated that he knew the return to long course was “always going to be hard” but that he felt he had adjusted well so far. He also mentioned that it was nice to return home and be back in a familiar environment after his first semester in the States. “It’s nice just getting home… and just swimming like it used to be. It’s pretty nice to come back to some familiarity.”
Along with his record in the 200 back heats (he scratched the final), Quah won the 200 free and 200 fly, and added runner-up finishes in the 50 back and 100 free. Check out full results here.
Quah will remain in Singapore to train for the upcoming World Championships in July, where he’s qualified to swim the 50, 100 and 200 fly and 50 and 100 back. Fellow NCAA swimmer and 2016 100 fly Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling is the only other Singaporean swimmer slated to compete in Budapest.
Along with the 200 back, Quah also holds national records in the 50 & 100 back long course, as well as the 200 free, 100 back and 200 back short course.
Im excited to see how far he and Joe can go next month in Budapest
Maximum 200 meters
Yup. Me too. Hopefully, Quah can get at least a Bronze while Joe getting 2 Golds?
impossible, darling.
why would you say that though
Just be realistic. Schooling is in good form to win the 100 fly, but another gold is not likely. His pbs in 50 and 200 fly are far from what can bring him a gold.
As for Quah, entering the final is a more realistic goal.
i think that the 50fly Schooling may get up for a bronze considering he was only 0.28s behind the winner two years ago, and never doubt his confidence. He says he can surprise in the 200, and I believe maybe a bronze at the most (probably not a gold though honestly). Also, he usually does not train for freestyle and has gone 48 low just by “winging it” so maybe he can medal in that too? As for Zheng Wen, he’s been improving a lot recently so I wouldn’t count him out for a medal in the 200fly especially. These are just my opinions, and I welcome any other
Yup. I mentioned about 2 Golds which is the 100 and 200 fly. 50 fly maybe a silver or bronze. The favourite for 50 fly is usually those very big guys like Florent Manaudou and Cesar Cielo. Schooling hinted that this year he may surprise a lot of people in the 200 fly so it will be a bonus if he got a gold. As for 100 free, he maybe in final but medal chance is lower as he does not focus so much on this event currently. Hopefully my wish for 2 golds can come true. It may sound unrealistic but he is capable to do so.
The world has been improving too. Now there are three men faster than the 50fly champion in Kazan. Very difficult for Schooling to medal.
And Quah has definitely improved, but to medal he needs to be 2 seconds faster. Improving by two seconds in a year is not very likely.