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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Singapore had a very strong performance at the Asian Games, it might just not show on the medal table due to the dominance of China, Japan and South Korea.
One of the standout swims on the Singaporean side that didn’t result in a medal came in the men’s 400 freestyle relay, where the team knocked nearly two seconds off the four-year-old National Record in a time of 3:14.77, just half a second back of Japan for the bronze medal.
Jonathan Tan led the team off in 49.13, not too far off his lifetime best of 48.90 set earlier this year, and then Zheng Wen Quah, Ardi Azman and Mikkel Lee all split under their flat start bests, with Quah doing so by nearly a second and Lee by nearly two.
Relay Splits vs Personal Best Times
| Flat Start Best Time | Relay Split | |
| Jonathan Tan | 48.90 | 49.13 (lead-off) |
| Zheng Wen Quah | 49.25 | 48.31 |
| Ardi Azman | 50.34 | 50.08 |
| Mikkel Lee | 49.10 | 47.25 |
Mikkel Lee, who’s about to start his freshman season at Indiana, just split 47.25 to anchor Singapore’s 400 free relay.
Indiana is looking more-and-more solid as the #3 team in the nation.🚀🚀🚀 https://t.co/EpA1J3zIEY
— Braden Keith (@Braden_Keith) September 28, 2023
With Lee’s blistering 47.25 leg in particular standing out, the quartet obliterated the previous National Record of 3:16.66, set by the team at the 2019 World Championships. That squad notably featured both Tan and Quah, along with 2016 Olympic champion Joseph Schooling.
Split Comparison
| 2019 World Championships | 2023 Asian Games |
| Joseph Schooling – 49.32 | Jonathan Tan – 49.13 |
| Zheng Wen Quah – 48.76 | Zheng Wen Quah – 48.31 |
| Jonathan Tan – 49.63 | Ardi Azman – 50.08 |
| Darren Chua – 48.95 | Mikkel Lee – 47.25 |
| 3:16.66 | 3:14.77 |
Singapore also saw new a National Record set in the mixed 400 medley relay (3:49.73), which featured both Quah and Tan, and Letitia Sim set two individually in the women’s 100 breast (1:07.13) and 200 breast (2:26.43).
The lone Singaporean medalist was Teong Tzen Wei, who was the runner-up in the men’s 50 fly.
The nation had numerous 4th-place finishes, and after appearing to win just their second medal in the women’s 400 medley relay, they were disqualified for an early takeoff after initially touching 3rd.
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Zheng Wen’s flat best is 48.99 clocked at 2023 Southeast Asian Games, and Mikkel’s is 49.14 clocked at 2023 Singapore Nationals.
And Jonathan’s flat start PB is 48.80 at 2023 SEA Games.