Last Saturday, Singapore Press Holdings Foundation (SPH Foundation), together with the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC), hosted the inaugural SPH Foundation National Para-Swimming Championship 2011 at the Toa Payoh Swimming Complex.
They were competing in swimming styles such as Backstroke, Butterfly and Free-Style.
Thanks to Voxsports. Here's a clear video on it.
The event, an annual highlight in the disabled sports calendar, is for swimmers aged 7 years and above. The participants will compete based on their physical or intellectual disabilities. Races are held in all four swimming strokes, ranging from 50m to 400m.
A total of 97 swimmers will be taking part in this year's championship. The youngest and oldest participant is nine years and 55 years old respectively.
This competition also serves as a platform to identify junior swimmers for the Singapore Sports School and potential athletes for the national squad, with promising swimmers to be selected and groomed for the ASEAN Para Games 2011 in Indonesia and the 2012 Paralympics in London.
I am so proud of them!!!!!
The event’s Guest-of-Honour is MG (NS) Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts.
Participants this year include notable swimmers such as Paralympians
Theresa Goh
Born with spina bifida, Theresa Goh started swimming at the age of five. She is one of Singapore's top athletes and was awarded Sportsgirl of the Year for two years in a row in 2002 and 2003, Sportswoman of the Year by the Singapore Disability Sports Council in 2004, and the Singapore Youth Award in 2005.
~ 100m freestyle (classification: s5) gold medal with a timing of 1:40.96
~ 200m freestyle, gold medal with a timing of 3:52.99
~ 100m breaststroke, gold medal with a timing of 2:20.02
Yip Pin Xiu
~ 50m freestyle (classification: s3) gold medal with a timing of 1:03.70
~ 100m freestyle, gold medal with a timing of 2:17.76
~ 200m freestyle, gold medal with a timing of 4:47.61
- Born with muscle dystrophy, a disease which causes her muscles to degenerate slowly.
- She is a Secondary 4 student at Bendemeer Secondary School.
- Swims backstroke in the 50m freestyle (S3) event. Most competitors use the front-crawl.
- Despite her fist-like hands and weak wrists, she compensates with super-fast strokes. While able-bodied backstrokers swim with their nose and mouth above water most of the time, her head is tilted back and submerged, so that her hips can rise higher, reducing the drag created by her limp legs.
- To start the backstroke race, she is dangled by her arms, which are held by her coach, Ang Peng Siong. To turn, she swivels 180 degrees on her back.
Khristine Quek, who was the first disabled swimmer to be admitted into the Singapore Sports School in 2007
And first time contestants Adam Kamis, age 30, and Vellasamy s/o Subramaniam, age 27, competed in the 50metre and 100metre Breaststroke events.
Adam Kamis is one of SDSC’s elite track & field athletes who have taken to competitive swimming as part of his rehabilitation. He completed a full sundown marathon!
~ 50m breaststroke (classification: s6) gold medal with a timing of 1:04.82
~ 100m breaststroke, gold medal with a timing of 2:35.16
~ 50m breaststroke (classidication: s10) gold medal with a timing of 1:17.82
And Singapore Sports School student Emma Dione Schick finished with three gold medals too. Her ultimate goal is to qualify for the London 2012 Paralympics.
Results:
~ 50m freestyle (classification: s9) gold medal with a timing of 40.89
~ 100m freestyle, gold medal with a timing of 1:36.76
~ 100m breaststroke gold medal with a timing of 2:19.76
Journey of Paralympics participation for Singapore
| - 1988: Send a squad to participate in the Summer Paralympic Games (Seoul) Despite winning no medals in the 1988 Summer Games, Singapore continued to send teams - 2008: Six athletes came home with four medals. The 2008 Games was the first time Singapore has won a medal in any Paralympic competition. | |
Not just in swimming, but in many other sports. There are Singapore sailors Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim  Laurentia Tan in the Equestrian event. She is an equestrian dressage rider for Team Singapore. She lives in England where she trains with her horse called Nothing To Lose, also nicknamed Harvey. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and profound deafness as a child.
Singapore Paralympic wheelchair racer Eric Ting – who is paralysed from the chest down - go through the paces in the gym late last week. He represented Singapore in wheelchair racing in the Beijing Games. He was an ex-commando who became paraplegic after a car accident  Firdaus bin Nordin, our national wheelchair racer  I know I have missed out some! But anyways, congratulations in making it thus far. Keep going~ all of you are an encouragement to all of us. | |
2012 London Paralympics. Go for it Singapore!    And lastly congratulations also to the OSIM Triathlete who was mute and deaf and used this as an advantage to come in top placing in the Tri last Sunday. Thumbs UP! | |
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