[Media Release] Toh Wei Soong ties with Australian home favourite Timothy Hodge to earn bronze on second day of the Citi Para Swimming World Series 2023 Melbourne

Team Singapore swimmers had a challenging second day at the Citi Para Swimming World Series 2023 Melbourne. Only Paralympian Toh Wei Soong (S7) managed to edge into the finals, and fought to a tie in third placing with Australian home favourite and Paralympic medalist Timothy Hodge (S9) in the Men’s 50m Freestyle Multi-Class event. This feat closed the day for Team Singapore with one additional bronze to its medal tally.

Nonetheless, Toh is not looking at the win as an end. “Coming off a great training camp in Gold Coast, there are many things I am in the process of refining right now and it’s always quite the task to implement what you have learnt in training into a competition setting. With that being said, knowing where I was and where I am now in terms of technique, I am confident that with races further into the season, I would be able to integrate what I’ve learnt from this training camp and get better from here.”

Toh’s coach, Ang Peng Siong, who was former world record holder for the Men’s 50m Freestyle event, concurred, “We just came off a really good training camp where we met up with some of the top sport scientists, as well as coaching legend Bill Sweetenham. This is really the first race of the year, which is going to be a busy one for Wei Soong, as we are going to try to get as many races in as possible. Timing is not the main focus at this meet. It is really trying to refine his strokes and skill sets, and prepare for Paris next year.”

Seven Team Singapore para swimmers are at the Melbourne Series, which takes place from 17 to 19 February at the Melbourne Sports Centres. This is the first leg of the Citi Para Swimming World Series, which will travel to nine countries this year, including Singapore in April 2023.

Team Singapore finished with 2 golds, and 1 bronze on day 1 of the Series, with Yip Pin Xiu and Sophie Soon taking the pole positions in the Women’s 100m Backstroke Multi-Class and Women’s 50m Breaststroke Multi-Class events respectively. The bronze was earned by 17-year-old Colin Soon, also Sophie’s brother, in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke Multi-Class event.

Team Singapore’s current medal tally stands at 2 golds and 2 bronzes  Tomorrow will be the last day of their races in Melbourne.

“The 50m Butterfly event is an event I enjoy. It will be the focus of my attempt to take what I’ve learnt from the recent training camp and implement it in terms of body rhythm, catch and resistance at speed into this race. I am looking forward to getting better,” said Toh.

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