Last regional hurrah, but Asian swansong for Lim

All eyes were on the blockbuster showdown on Dec 14 between Singapore’s defending champion Quah Ting Wen and Filipino-Canadian Olympic medallist Kayla Sanchez to decide who would be crowned Southeast Asia’s fastest female swimmer.

- David Lee

Amanda Lim, six-time winner of the women’s 50m freestyle, seemed to have been forgotten.

But the 32-year-old Singaporean made her only race of the Games count when she touched home first in 25.03 seconds ahead of Sanchez (25.15sec) and fellow Filipina Heather White (25.38), while Quah (25.42) was fourth.

And as swiftly as her race was won, Lim announced that this would be her last Games as she wrapped up her 10th outing with a perfect ending her seventh win in her pet event.

She won the race six times in a row from 2009 to 2019, before placing second behind Thailand's Jenjira Srisaard in 2022 and Quah in 2023.

In all, she has 21 golds, five silvers and two bronzes at the regional meet.