Records fall on day 3 of SEA Games

Siow Yi Ting of Malaysia marked her birthday with a Southeast Asian Games record-setting performance in the 100 meters breaststroke Friday when a slew of competition records were also set in swimming, weightlifting and shooting.

After the third day of the games, Vietnam unexpectedly topped the medals table with 14 golds, eight of which it won Friday in seven events, ranging from karate to cycling.

Singapore also has 14 golds but is second because of fewer silvers and bronzes, while Thailand is third with 13 golds.

Much of the attention Friday focused on the pool where five of Friday's six races produced records. Siow, who turned 24 on the day of her race, swam the 100 meters breaststroke in 1:09.82 minutes, beating the 1:10.15 time set by Nicolette Teo of Singapore in 2007.

She also took part in the 400 meters freestyle relay where Malaysia won a bronze in a time of 3:51.40, which beat the previous meet record of 3:51.86. Singapore won the gold in 3:45.73 while Thailand took the silver with a time of 3:48.09.

"I just relaxed my mind and swam hard, that's how I did it," said Siow, an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas.

"It was simply awesome, really an amazing feeling," she said, noting that she hadn't been swimming anywhere near her personal best for a long time.

Siow represented Malaysia at the Sydney Olympics when she was 13.

Games swimming records were also by Malaysia's Daniel Bego in the men's 100 meters freestyle, Vietnam's Huu Viet Nguyen in the men's 100 meters breaststroke and Malaysia's Khoo Cai Lin in the women's 400 meters freestyle.

Source :The Jakarta Post