Over 340 swimmers, 39 new records at Kotas Meet

August 8, 2017

Karim (fourth left) presents the challenge trophy to St Joseph’s Private School team manager Father Alvin Ng (fourth right) and captain Anthony Kho while (from right) Kwon, Kong, Wee, Chai and Ong look on.

KUCHING: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah was very impressed with the increasing number of participants in the 7th Samarahan-Kuching Divisions Primary & Secondary Inter-School Swimming Championships at the Sarawak Aquatic Centre in Petra Jaya over the weekend.

More than 340 swimmers from 48 primary and secondary schools from Kuching and Samarahan competed in the annual meet organised by Kota Samarahan Amateur Swimming Association (Kotas) and 39 new meet records were created.

(From left) Darlene Aliya, Janessa Liew Jia Yi, Genevieve Liew Zhi Ni and Faustina Kow from SK Green Road upset traditional champions from the Chung Hua Primary Schools in the primary schools girls 4x50m relay with a time of 2:33.05.

“We are in the process of making Sarawak a sports powerhouse and swimming is one of the sports that we are really hoping to deliver and I am happy to see so many committed parents from Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu and Miri who are always with their children in the early morning or late at night to ensure that their children attend training,” Karim said.

“This is why we are able to produce a lot of good swimmers in Sarawak and I do hope that swimming will always be a major medal contributor at national and international competitions.

“There are a few good swimmers and athletes from Sarawak representing Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and we will be announcing their names soon so that the people of Sarawak will know who they are and feel proud of them,” he added.

Karim also thanked corporate sponsors for supporting such events and hoped the private sector will continue to do so in years to come.

SJK Chung Hua No. 2 won the primary schools title for the third consecutive year while St Joseph’s Private School made a successful defence of their secondary schools crown.

Also present at the closing ceremony were Sarawak Sports Corporation CEO Dr Ong Kong Swee, Amateur Swimming Association of Sarawak president Dato Wee Hong Seng, Asas secretary Anthony Kong, Kotas president Alice Kwon and organising chairman Chai Min Lee. -TheBorneoPost