KUCHING: Swim Art Swimming Club will send 11 swimmers to the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championships (MIAG) after collecting 85 medals at the 52nd Sarawak Age Group Swimming Championships.
The MIAG will be held at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil from Feb 5 to 8.
Although Swim Art is a small club, its progress has come from steady, consistent training under head coach Gary Lau, with swimmers improving through a gradual and structured approach instead of high-volume work.
“What matters most to us is steady progress. These results didn’t come from having big facilities or resources, but from the swimmers showing up, working hard and improving a little at a time,” said head coach Gary Lau in a statement issued recently.
The effort paid off at the championships. In the Girls 19 to 21 category, Christy Wong Yau Xuan earned the Best Girl award with six gold medals and one silver.
Wong, a SUKMA XXI swimmer and Borneo Games 2025 bronze medallist in the 50m backstroke, has trained with Swim Art since 2022.
In the Boys 12 to 13 category, Russell Liaw Yi Han was named Best Boy after winning nine gold medals and meeting MIAG qualifying times in several events, including freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and individual medley.
He has been training with Swim Art since 2021. The club also achieved encouraging results from several other swimmers across different age groups.
Distance swimmer Bryston Lee Khai Cheng produced one of Swim Art’s strongest performances in the Boys 14 to 15 category, winning gold in the 1500m freestyle and 400m freestyle, silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 200m freestyle, while also meeting the MIAG qualifying standard in his events.
His teammate Bong Yi Xiang added further depth for the club in the same age group, earning bronze medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle and securing a qualifying time for MIAG.
In the girls events, Leora Eli Conus finished her campaign with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals and also achieved qualifying marks in her sprint races.
In the Boys 16 to 18 category, Ayden Maximilian Lim Wei, who recently represented Malaysia at the ASEAN School Games, secured a silver in the 1500m freestyle, bronze in the 400m freestyle, bronze in the 400m individual medley and bronze in the 100m freestyle, results that also confirmed his place on the list of MIAG qualifiers.
Teammate Cayden Mineve Chin earned Bronze medals in backstroke and butterfly events and met the qualifying time in backstroke. Max Chew Yu Xiang completed his programme with medal results in breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley and also qualified.
Additional MIAG qualifiers included Ayden Wong Yau Shuin (50m & 100m Backstroke), Roman Aryan Raphael (200m Breaststroke, 200m IM), Airi Chew Yi Sze (200m Breaststroke) and Tay Shu Fun (100m Butterfly).
