Amanda Lim dedicates win to retiring coach
PUBLISHED ONJune 13, 2015 6:00 PM
For the fastest female swimmer in South-east Asia, Singaporean swimmer Amanda Lim somehow doesn't get as much attention her record-busting feats deserve.
But, over and over again, with the consistency of a faultless metronome and the ruthlessness of an assassin, the 22-year-old has won the women's 50m freestyle at every SEA Games since her first attempt at the event in Vientiane 2009.
And, each time, she would win it in style by breaking the Games record.
Last night at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, Amanda (inset) was in her element again as she delivered her fourth successive 50m freestyle gold and another Games record, this time by the narrowest of margins, as her time of 25.59 edged teammate Quah Ting Wen by 0.01 second.
"This medal is very significant as it is the last gold medal I will win with David Lim as my coach," she told The New Paper. "He will retire after this SEA Games to spend more time with his family, so I want to dedicate this to him.
"David is like a second father to me because I see him every day for the last four years and, to be able to end my time with him with this gold medal, in front of the home crowd, is just awesome.
"I also want to thank my family, teammates and close friends whose support has helped me keep everything together as I juggle studies and swimming."
David, a former national swimmer with 19 SEA Games gold medals, has been coaching since 1991 and has produced a clutch of top swimmers such as Amanda, Tao Li and the Quah siblings - Ting Wen, Zheng Wen and Jing Wen.
The 48-year-old said: "I have missed a lot of my seven-year-old daughter Madison's growing-up years and I don't want to miss any more.
"I will take on a different role managing the coaches at Swimfast Aquatic Club and Chinese Swimming Club.
"I made this decision three years ago to stop coaching after the SEA Games in Singapore and it's time for younger coaches like Leonard Tan and Richard Chng to take over.
"Of course, I will miss training swimmers like Amanda, and I will continue to follow their careers closely."
This article was first published on June 12, 2015.
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