Singapore Open (25-28 April)
The first international meet for our club was a thrilling experience. The trip was a combination of fun, learning, and intense competition. The Singapore Open is a highly competitive athletic competition that only allows athletes who have passed the qualification mark to participate. Only two athletes were sent to compete at this competition - Pei Yuan (Open category in 100m and 200m) and Thomas Wong (Master 45-49 age category in 100m).
Pei Yuan clocked her season best in both events, finished 15th placed (13.10s) in the 100m and 7th in the 200m with 27.17s.
Pei Yuan had an incredible opportunity to run alongside Shanti Pereira, the fastest woman in Southeast Asia who recently broke Singapore national records in 100m and 200m at the Australia Open. Running with her not only gave Pei Yuan a chance to witness her talent first-hand but also pushed her to improve her own running technique and timing. Hopefully, this experience inspired her to work even harder towards her own goals.
Our Master athlete, Thomas Wong, competed in the 45-49 age category and achieved a new personal record in his 100m at 13.87s, finishing 5th in his category. He proved that age is just a number and that with hard work, determination, and a positive attitude, it's possible to achieve great things in the world of athletics.
Perak Open (28-30 April)
We are proud to announce that our team had 48 athletes take part in the Perak Open meet. What's even more impressive is that our team consisted of athletes aged from 10 to 47.
This Open had no age category, which meant that our youngest athletes were running alongside their senior counterparts, which led to some understandable nerves and apprehension. However, we reminded our team that it doesn't matter who they are running against, as long as they focus on improving their own personal bests. We encouraged our team to control what they can control - their attitude, mentality, and their run. This mindset proved to be successful, as many of our athletes achieved personal bests and demonstrated incredible determination. The team achieved an impressive 55 personal bests in the meet.
We would like to give a special shout-out to Jason for demonstrating excellent leadership throughout the camp and taking care of the U12 group athletes. We are also proud of the U12 group for demonstrating independence and maturity, knowing what to do and how to compete despite being the youngest on the team.
Overall, both open meets were fantastic trips and valuable experiences for our club. We look forward to attending more national and international meets in the future and continuing to grow and improve as a team.