Records Fall, Youth Rise: 47th SEA Age Championships Showcase Region’s Best Young Swimmers

47th SEA Age Group Championships

• June 25-27, 2025
• WCH Arena, Singapore
• Long Course Meters (50 Meters)
• 47th SEA Age Group Results

Record-breaking swimmers and promising young talent from around Southeast Asia gathered in Singapore at the WCH Arena, the home of the 2025 World Swimming Championships, for the 47th Southeast Asian (SEA) Age Group Swimming Championships. As the region’s premier age group championship, the meet played host to 22 broken records throughout the three-day event. Thailand topped the overall medal standings with 38 golds and 104 total medals, followed by Singapore (83) and Vietnam (56).

In the girls’ 14-15 age group, Indonesia’s Chantika Aulia broke the 100 backstroke meet record, swimming a 1:03.98 to top the previous mark of 1:04.63 set by Kanistha Tungnapakorn in 2024. Aulia also took the meet record for the 50 freestyle in the girls’ 14–15 age group, lowering the former mark of 26.18 set by Manita Sathianchokwisan from Thailand in 2019 with a 26.15. Aulia would replicate this success in the 200 backstroke, where her final time of 2:18.77 would eclipse the record from Tungnapakorn from 2024 of 2:19.30. Her final individual meet record came in the form of a sub-30-second performance in the 50 backstroke, where her final time of 29.68 would best the previous mark of 30.03 set by Tungnapakorn in 2024. Aulia would also anchor the Indonesian Girls 18 and Under 400 freestyle relay in 56.53, to take gold in record-setting fashion with a time of 3:52.67, topping the previous record time of 3:54.54 set by Thailand in 2019.  

Sixteen-year-old Nguyen Thuey Hien of Vietnam took down four meet records on her own, first in the 16-18 50 breaststroke, topping Christina Loh’s 2011 time of 32.31. Thuey Hien would touch with a time of 32.24. Her second would come in the form of the 16-18 50 freestyle, where her time of 26.08 would best the previous mark from 2012 by Jenjira Srisa-Ard of 26.28. Then in the 16-18 50 butterfly, she would then break the 22-month-old record from Thi Van Pham of 27.85 with her final time of 27.58.  Her fourth and final broken record would come in the 16-18 100 freestyle, where her time of 56.66 would top the 11-year standard of 56.87 set by Marina Chan. 

In the boys’ 16-18 1500 freestyle, the record from 2019 set by Tran Tuan Anh Mai at 16:13.76 would be broken by three different swimmers, but it would be 17-year-old Tran Van Nguyen Quoc of Vietnam who would sit atop the podium with his time of 15:42.25. With Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry of Malaysia and Timothy Cheah of Singapore both putting up sub-15:51 performances. 

The girls’ 16-18 50 backstroke would see a myriad of record breakers, with 6 swimmers breaking the 11-year record of 29.76, set by Thi Anh Vein Nguyen. Malaysian swimmer Xin Lin Chong topped all times with a 29.42 to take gold in the event. 

Another area of highlight for the meet was in the boys’ 18 & Under 400 freestyle relay, where the Thailand team, made up of Jirapat Chayangsu, Arshavin Sutthiworachai, Thanapat Pinsanoa, and Suphakph Nuntapiywan, would clock a 3:29.93 to take down the 2024 meet record of 3:30.96 set by Thailand themselves in the same event. 

The meet attracted multiple national record-holders and athletes with World Junior–level experience, serving as a key marker with this summer’s World Championships and Junior Worlds on the horizon.