Nicholle wins S'pore's only medal on final day of FINA World Cup meet

SINGAPORE - National swimmer Nicholle Toh ensured that Singapore did not leave the Singapore leg of the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup empty-handed tonight when she captured a bronze in the women's 200m butterfly.

The 15-year-old student, who is based in Phuket, Thailand, and studies at the British International School there, not only gave the 1,800-strong crowd at the OCBC Aquatic Centre something to cheer about, she also set a new national record in the process. She touched home in 2min 11.26sec to eclipse Joscelin Yeo's 16-year-old record of 2:12.45.

Hungary's Katinka Hosszu won the race in 2:05.95, beating compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakobos who finished in 2:06.24.

Nicholle's bronze medal proved to be the only one won by the 29-strong Team Singapore contingent at the two-day meet at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, and it was just reward for the teenager who qualified for the final as the third fastest swimmer with her time of 2:15.10 and went into it determined to hang on to that status.

As she said after her race: "I finished thrid overall after the heats and I was hoping to maintain that position in the final. But having said that, I was definitely feeling nervous at the start because I was competing against world-class athletes, some of whom have won many Olympic medals and world titles. I was just glad that I got the chance to race against them."

National assistant swimming coach Gary Tan praised Nicholle for the way she took on her world-class rivals in the final.

"She took a huge risk going out fast against the big swimmers but she just got better with each leg of the race," he said.

"She executed her walls very well. so she's got to be given credit for doing a fantastic job today. This is a very proud moment for her."

Indeed, Tan said that he saw the young swimmer as an important part of Team Singapore's quest to continue dominating the women's relays at next year's South-east Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

"She is definitely in contention for a spot in the SEA Games next year. She's come through the ranks over the years and she has been working very hard with her coach in Phuket," he said.

"I do see her together with (Quah) Ting Wen, (Quah) Jin Wen and Tao Li continuing our tradition in the relays."

While Singapore came away from the OCBC Aquatic Centre with one bronze and three new national records (two from Lionel Khoo in the 100m and 200m breaststroke), Valdimir Morozov from Russia and Alia Atkinson of Jamaica were crowned the Best Male and Female Swimmers of this leg of the FINA World Cup.

Morozov continues to be top of the men's pack in the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup series, while Hosszutops the women's leaderboard.