Watching the aquatics at the Asian Youth Games? Know the details first.

One of Singapore’s successful sports is expected to bring in a big medal haul at this year’s Asian Youth Games held here this year. Being the host country, Singapore has nominated 24 of its own swimmers aged 14-17, double the number of swimmers eligible per country. 

Singaporeans are predicted to be watching the 9 different sporting games live. So what is one who has no knowledge about a sport like swimming to expect? Here are some facts one should take note of.

The goal of swimming is, simply, to be the fastest over the given distance. Competitions are usually held in a 50 metre pool, the width of a football field. There are four different types of swimming strokes- backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly, of which all will be included in this year’s competition. These swimming strokes can even be practiced together in an Individual Medley, which is followed in a standard order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Team medley relays follow another order of backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

Contestants are judged by six different officials in different aspects like strokes, timing and flip turns (swimming into the wall, somersaulting, and pushing off that wall)

The competition is broken down into 3 sections; heats, which is the qualifying round, semi finals and finals. The top 16 relay swimmers from the qualifying round compete in the semi finals; where the top 8 proceed to the finals. 

Among the top 24 Singapore nominated swimmers, Olympians Lynette Lim and Quah Ting Wen are the most seasoned at international games. They hold national records and have been expected to bring in medals in their 4x100m and 4x200m relays in the games. All swimmers have been encouraged to do their best in the presence of stronger teams like China and Japan.