SINGAPORE – Heading into the final day of the National School Games (NSG) track and field championships on April 19, finishing first was foremost on the minds of high jumper Rei Tan and sprinter Clara Lim.
Not only did the Raffles Institution duo achieve their aims, but they also exceeded expectations by breaking meet records at the National Stadium.
Rei eclipsed his own personal best of 1.92m five times en route to the winning height of 2.03m in the B Division boys’ high jump final. His effort erased the 2.02m set by schoolmate Bryan Wong in 2014.
His teammate Lau Jia Hern (1.87m) finished second, with Singapore Sports School’s Jayden Ng (1.83m) third.
Clara was also peerless in the A Division girls’ 100m, clocking 12.21sec to better the 12.35sec record set by Singapore Sports School’s Ismi Zakiah in 2018.
Rei, who finished second in 2023, said of his mark: “It’s unexpected and amazing, it wasn’t something I was thinking of entering the competition.
“The basic target was the gold medal. I was hunting for it last year and I didn’t get it, and I wasn’t satisfied. I promised myself that I’ll change the medal colour this year, and I did it.”
The 16-year-old attributed his win to his mentality change.
“Last year, I was more worried about the end result. This year, I told myself I’ll take it as a unique experience, so I just started making the best out of it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Clara admitted the record was “a very big goal”.
She said: “Coming in today, I felt the stress and pressure because, while the record wasn’t the first thing on my mind, I knew it was something that could be done. So I had to believe in myself.”
Her race strategy was to “go for it”, as she finished ahead of Nanyang Junior College’s Teh Ying Shan (12.40sec) and Hwa Chong Institution’s (HCI) Megan Ying (12.49sec) to add to the B Division 100m title from 2023.
In the B Division, Methodist Girls’ School’s Chloe Chee bagged a golden double when she won the 100m.
She clocked 12.54sec to beat Rachel Soh of Nanyang Girls’ High (12.65sec) and Cedar Girls’ Shannon Tan (12.90sec) for her second gold medal after winning the long jump with 5.49m on April 5.
Having settled for bronze in the sprint last year, 16-year-old Chloe described her achievement as “surreal”.
She added: “I wasn’t satisfied last year. I trained really hard this year and I was aiming for the double gold.”
While training for both events was challenging, she said: “I just have to manage my time and decide when to focus on which event.”
Elsewhere, Reuben Loke from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) bounced back emphatically from eighth place in the 3,000m to win the B Division 1,500m in 4min 20.03sec.
Admiralty Secondary’s Oliver Fiore (4:20.30) and NUS High School’s Sung Yejun (4.20.45) were second and third respectively.
Reuben, who celebrated with an outstretched arm and a gesture to the crowd, said: “I lost the 3,000m, so I was gutted. Today, I wanted to show I was back on top. So the celebration was just raw emotion.”
RI retained their A and B Divisions boys’ championships, but lost the C Division to HCI, who also won the A girls’.
Cedar Girls and CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ were overall champions in the B and C girls’ respectively.
- Additional reporting by Kimberly Kwek
