Defending champion Toh took bronze in the 50m butterfly S7. Photo: SNPC/ Dyan Tjhia
Toh Wei Soong bagged his third medal in as many events after his swim of 31.53 seconds in the men’s 50m butterfly S7 on Wednesday (Oct 21) evening.
The defending champion had to fend off challenges from Chinese duo Zhang Yilong and Ruan Jingsong and teenager Sardor Bakhtiyorov at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium Rainbow Pool during the one-lap sprint.
Toh eventually made the podium but had to settle for bronze, behind Zhang (30.71) and Ruan (31.50).
“There are two more days left of racing, and I am excited to just go out there and keep doing what I do best,” he said.
“In tough moments, what’s important is courage. You don’t know what the next day is going to bring or how things are going to pan out. So you ought to have courage and just go with it.”
The 28-year-old will return to the pool for 100m backstroke S7 and 50m freestyle S7.
In the women's 100m backstroke S13, Sophie Soon was sixth of seven with a new national record time of 1:25.45.
“Today's race was a huge breakthrough, finally. This is my personal best by quite a bit. I haven't spoken to coach (Mick Massey) yet, but I hope he's happy because I'm very happy with it.”
Having missed out on the Hangzhou Games as her events were not part of the programme due to a lack of competitors, Soon said: “It feels really, really good. I always enjoy being at the Asian Para Games. The first thing is, I always really enjoy meeting my friends.
“Every racing opportunity is so valuable, and there's no one experience like the other. And even though I missed Hangzhou, and that was a unique experience in itself, I'm so glad that I managed to make it to this.”
Soon was also happy to be back at the quadrennial competition as she reunited with long-time friend and competitor Ayano Tsujiuchi, who set a Games record of 1:15.35 in the S12 category en route to silver.
“She was one of my bridesmaids and an incredibly fierce competitor. But it's always such a joy to swim with her because you know she's really giving it her all and that energy emits onto you as well,” said Soon, who met the Japanese back at her Games debut in 2018 in Jakarta.
Soon, who set a new national record (1:20.45) in the 100m freestyle S13 on Monday (Oct 19) and finished sixth (1:33.93) in the 100m breaststroke SB13, added: “The first two races weren’t fantastic.”
“The 100 freestyle, I think the nerves really got to me. For breaststroke, things were going well but unfortunately, sometimes you can do everything right, and things just don't go as you expected during the race.”
Still, the 29-year-old was in good spirits.
“It's still valuable race experience that we're going to take back, and we're going to continue to improve on. And I think something that my coach and I always reiterate is that I'm still very new to S11, wearing blackout goggles. Even though it's just one equipment change, it's still quite a huge change overall, so I am taking it step by step.”
She has one last race on the cards on Thursday (Oct 22): the 50m freestyle S13.
“I think that has honestly been the main event we've been preparing for quite a bit. So definitely a little bit nervous, but I just think of it as my last race, so let's just give it all we got and see what happens.”
The 5th Asian Para Games are held in Japan from 18 to 24 October 2026. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.