Lilian Wong broke a record set by Olympian Siobhan Haughey in 2011.Seven new records were set on Day One of the Interschool Swimming Competition held in Kowloon Park Swimming Pool on Friday, featuring swimmers from 22 secondary schools in the highest division of the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon districts.
The record-breaking swimmers came from three schools - Ying Wa College (Ying Wa), Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) and Diocesan Girls’ School (DGS).
Ying Wa’s Frank Ho Siu-lun broke the first record of the day, when he pushed the finishing time in the Boys’ Grade B 50m Butterfly event from 25.85s to 25.45s.
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The 15-year-old, who specialises in backstroke events, said he wanted to give other events a try and show that he can excel in different strokes. He proved his point again in the afternoon session, when he broke the 100m Freestyle B grade record. It now stands at 52.98s.
“When I compete in backstroke events, I’m worried that I may not perform wells,” the Form Four student said. “But I feel much more relaxed when I take part in other events.”
Another teen to set two new records was Lilian Wong Sze-ting of DGS. The 15-year-old first renewed her own record from last year in the Girls’ Grade B 50m Freestyle event with a finishing time of 26.17s.
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The Form Four student made a splash again in the 100m Freestyle event, when she set a new time of 56.51s, smashing the record of 56.77s set by local swimming star Siobhan Haughey in 2011.
Lilian’s schoolmate Tinky Ho Nam-wai, who helped the Hong Kong women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team secure a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, set a new time of 57.26s in Girls’ Grade A 100m Freestyle.
The Form Six student hopes under the guidance of Olympic swimmer Sze Hang-yu, who started coaching the DGS team this year, she will be able to have another go at breaking records in the finals next week.
Tinky is also striving to make the Olympic representative team, so she needs to up her game to meet the standards of other senior swimmers on the team like Haughey and Stephanie Au Hoi-shun.
“My goal is to finish the 100m event in 55 seconds,” she said. “I will definitely try my best to pursue that goal in the coming six months.”
Meanwhile, Michael Cheuk Ming-ho, who broke the Boys’ Grade A 100m Freestyle record, is also giving his all in hopes of joining the elite Games next year. The 17-year-old has decided to postpone his HKDSE, and focus all his energy on reaching the Olympic Selection Time (OST) for more events.
“I already met the OST in 400m freestyle, now the aim is to do it for my other events,” Michael said. “As for the interschool competition, I will concentrate on the 200m finals, as short-distance races are not my strong suit.”
Michael’s teammate Wesley Ng Cheuk-yin, who crushed the Boys’ Grade A 100m Backstroke record he set last year, hopes he will be in the best form for the finals next Friday, to set another personal best time, as well as taking the overall champion title for his school.
“I’m still recovering from my cold, but I hope I will be fully recovered next week,” said Wesley. “Since it will be my last chance representing DBS, my goal is definitely to win the overall champion to fulfil the school’s winning streak for 27 consecutive years.”