SINGAPORE: After missing out on a podium finish at the recent 2022 Asian Games, Singapore national swimmer Letitia Sim picked up two medals, a silver and a bronze in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, respectively, at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
Sim came in second in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:06.86, behind Estonian swimmer Eneli Jefimova 1:06.50, while Dominika Sztandera from Poland was in third with a time of 1:07.01.
In the 200m breaststroke event, Sim clocked a time of 2:24.15 to finish in third place, just ahead of fourth-placed Jefimova (2:26.02). Tes Schouten from the Netherlands came in first with a time of 2:22.13, while Australian Jenna Strauch was in second spot with a time of 2:23.60.
According to Singapore Aquatics, the 20-year-old set two new national open records with her timings in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup. She also met the ‘B’ cut for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, missing the ‘A’ cut by just a mere 0.07s for the 100m breaststroke.
“Letitia Sim finished third at World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, Berlin 2023 and has broken the National Open Record in the women’s 200 breaststroke with a time 2:24.15. She has broken this event five times in 2023, bringing it down from a high 2:28 in a matter of months,” posted Singapore Aquatics on their Facebook page after Sim’s medal win in the 200m breaststroke.
Singapore Aquatics added that Sim had set a new national record in the same event at the 2023 World Championships in July when she clocked a time of 2:27.73 to knock off her month-old mark of 2:27.91 set at the 18th Singapore National Swimming Championships.
The 20-year-old national swimmer is in her prime and no stranger to setting national records. Although there was disappointment for Sim at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last month as a medal eluded her, she still managed to rewrite the national record books when came in fourth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke races. In the 100m event, Sim clocked a time of 1:07.13, behind gold medallist Reona Aoki (1:06.81) and silver medallist Satomi Suzuki (1:06.95), both from Japan, while Yang Chang from China took bronze with a time of 1:07.01.
“At the Asian Games last month, Letitia put up a time of 2:26.43 in the final, knocking off another big chunk from her lifetime best and national record time. Today, she dropped more than two seconds off her previous mark set just 11 days prior in 2:24.15,” said Singapore Aquatics referring to her timing in the 200m breaststroke event.
There were other Singapore national swimmers at the Swimming World Cup including the Quah siblings. Quah Ting Wen finished in 10th place in the women’s 50m butterfly with a time of 26.81s and earned herself a ‘B’ spot at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Doha. Meanwhile in the same event, Jing Wen clocked a time of 27.31s to finish in 12 position. Their brother Zheng Wen came in eighth in the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.38s. Chen Junhao finished in 17th position in the men’s 50m breaststroke (28.48s), and Brandon Yap came in 12th spot in the men’s 200m butterfly (2:07.95).