National women’s 4x100m, 3,000m steeplechase record set at Taiwan Open

SINGAPORE — In what is a boost to their preparations for next month’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games, Singapore’s national women’s 4x100m relay quartet of Wendy Enn, Shanti Pereira, Dipna Lim-Prasad and Smriti Menon have set a national record of 46.44secs in the event at the Taiwan Open today (May 15).

The result, which was achieved in the heats, betters the previous benchmark of 46.64 set at last month’s Singapore Open.

They finished third in their heat behind Thailand’s Thipat Supawan, Kongthong Wanwisa, Jaksuninkorn Phatsorn and Wannakit Tassaporn (45.42) and Indonesia’s Lusiana Satriani, Tri Setyo Utami, Serafi Anelies Unani, Niadatul Aini (45.88).

This achievement, which is subject to official ratification by Singapore Athletics, comes less than three weeks before the SEA Games track and field competition starts on June 9, has given the team a timely lift.

“It was a big surprise. We were cooling down together when Joy (Kuan, 400m athlete) broke the news to us,” said Lim-Prasad. “We started laughing and screaming. It was such an amazing moment we shared.”

Added Smriti: “I think it was definitely unexpected as our passing was not as smooth as we would have liked it to be. But it was an amazing moment to hear that we broke the national record by 0.2s, and we hope to do even better (in the finals tomorrow).”

Singapore also saw another national record set earlier today at the Taiwan Open, with Cheryl Chan clocking 11min 55.50secs in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.

Although the result saw her finish seventh in the race, she became the first Singaporean woman to go under 12mins for the event. It is also the third time that Chan has re-written the national women’s 3,000m steeplechase record this year.