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| Selangor’s swimmer Jordan Yip (second from left) posing with his teammates after winning the 400m freestyle event at the Shah Alam Aquatic Centre. – S.S KANESAN/The Star |
SHAH ALAM: It’s a dazzling dozen for Jordan Yip.
The Selangor swimmer has won a stunning 12 out of the 15 events he took part in the boys’ 16-18 age category at the National Schools Sports Council (MSSM) swimming championships at the Shah Alam Aquatic Centre.
With 10 gold medals already in the bag, he went into Thursday’s final day of the swimming championships hoping to win three more.
He won two.
First, he won the 200m butterfly in 2:13.85, beating team-mate Ooi Joo Vern (2:15.48) and Sabah’s Wong Venn Chieh (2:15.76).
Then, he anchored the Selangor quartet to a victory in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Jordan, Joo Vern, Khoo Yee Shen and Tan Tsien Ee posted 3:39.47 – about a second off the championship mark set by another Selangor quartet in 2014.
He failed to make it three golds out of three when he could only finish sixth in the 400m freestyle.
Still, his 12-gold achievement was enough for him to be named the best overall swimmer in his age group.
Jordan had earlier won golds in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle; 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke; 100m butterfly; 200m and 400m individual medley; and 4x100m medley.
He also bagged two silvers in the 50m butterfly and 200m breaststroke.
“There were some good and some not-so-good performances from me over the past five days, but I really could not have asked for a better way to mark my last MSSM appearance with 12 gold medals,” said Jordan.
“Now, I hope to do well in Sukma (Malaysian Games in Sarawak in July).
“I’m giving myself another year or two to make the national team. Then, from there, I hope to kick start my Tokyo 2020 dream. I’m also looking to further my studies in the United States, where I hope to enhance my swimming career.
“I may be versatile ... but I hope to work harder to become the country’s top backstroke and individual medley specialist in the future.”
Selangor, who were confirmed as overall champions on Wednesday, ended their campaign with an astonishing haul of 63 golds, 35 silvers and 16 bronzes. Kuala Lumpur (17-20-22) were second and Malacca (7-9-12) third.
Sabah’s Janetty Fabian was named the best overall female swimmer for setting a new record of 33.95 en route to winning the Under-12 50m backstroke event. Her time broke fellow Sabahan Leung Chii Lin’s 13-year-old mark of 34.12.
Selangor’s Sebastian Soon was named the best male swimmer for breaking Johor swimmer Tia’a Faang Der’s four-year-old record in the Under-15 200m individual medley event. Sebastian clocked 2:14.73 to erase the old mark of 2:14.94.
Only six meet records were set in the five-day meet compared to nine last year.
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