Letitia Sim won the women's 50m breaststroke event in Games record time. SportSG/ Andy Chua
Letitia Sim and Mikkel Lee produced stunning performances to clinch Singapore’s first gold medals in the pool at the Sports Authority of Thailand on Wednesday (Dec 10).
Singapore also won two silvers and two bronzes on the first day of the swimming competition at the 2025 SEA Games.
Sim’s blistering performance saw her clinch the women’s 50m breaststroke in a Games record of 31.03sec ahead of home favourite Jenjira Srisa-ard who clocked 31.52sec. The Thai held the previous Games record of 31.22sec, which she achieved at the 2023 Cambodia Games.
Malaysia’s Phee Jinq En and Thailand’s Saovanee Boonampha were joint-third in 31.71sec.
Reclaiming the title she won in 2021, Sim was pleased she managed to shake off the opening nerves.
The 22-year-old said: “I usually struggle to get up and go with the 50m breaststroke especially with it being the first event of the meet, but that’s a pretty good time for me. It’s just a couple (seconds) off my best and it just gave me more confidence being able to go up and race like that, especially in an event that’s not my greatest.”
Lee, 22, clocked a personal best of 48.65sec to win his first men’s 100m freestyle gold ahead of teammate Quah Zheng Wen (49.45sec) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Quo Tra Van (50.02sec).
A satisfied Lee was glad to see his hard work paying off after admitting that he lacked long-course racing experience.
He said: “This is a goal I’ve been chasing for quite a while, I’ve had many swims at 49.10sec so I’m really glad to get a little bit of a breakthrough and glad to get the gold for Singapore.
“It’s been a while since I’ve raced in long course metres in the 100m free so leading up to this, I was a little bit worried. My training was not at its best, there were a lot of loopholes and things I wanted to fix. I’m glad to see that my work has paid off and let's see what the next race has in store.”
Outside the pool, Lee has also been keeping an eye on the other gold-winning exploits from other Team Singapore athletes.
He added: “I hope we can carry on the momentum as a whole Team Singapore, not just in swimming but in all other sports as well. I look out for my friends doing ju-jitsu and all the other stuff, so I’m excited to see what they can do and use the momentum and good vibes to contribute to Team Singapore.”
His teammate Quah, who also clinched bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke, was happy for Lee. But the 29-year-old was disappointed in his own performance, which saw his 10-year winning streak in the men’s 100m backstroke come to an end. Still, he is choosing to focus on the positives and take the disappointment in his stride as he tackles eight more events in Bangkok.
He said: “I was very disappointed. I think I just wasn’t recovered enough from the previous event (men’s 100m freestyle). I really felt it towards the end of that race, but it is what it is. It’s part of racing and I’m just looking forward to the next few days and seeing what we can do.
“I’m very happy to be here and very proud to represent Team Singapore. I’m excited to watch and cheer on all my teammates. It’s just taking one step at a time, trying to focus on yourself after each race no matter the result and I’m taking what I can from today and learning from it to try to execute better as the meet goes on.”
His sisters Jing Wen and Ting Wen were also in action with Jing Wen clinching bronze in the women’s 200m butterfly before the sisters combined with Gan Ching Hwee and Ashley Lim to win silver in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
A disappointed Jing Wen was in tears after losing her women’s 200m butterfly crown that she had held since 2017.
Reflecting on her past races, she said: “I've spoken to the camera a lot, and I've cried a lot in front of cameras, and when I was called over for this interview, I just knew that I don't think I can keep it in. This event is very special to me, it was my first SEA Games gold and ever since, I've been chasing a certain high that I just can't seem to reach for this event.
“It’s just so hard to put into words how much this sport means to me - everything I put into this sport, I just give my everything. Any time people ask me how it feels like to race when it goes this badly, when you have so much expectations, it's just very hard to put into words and at this point, I don't even try to control myself, because this is just how it feels to give your entire life to something and not having payback even though you think you deserve it.
“It’s just sports… if you’re not in any sport, it's so hard to understand. But that’s the reality of it - it’s never always glamour and glitz, it’s just how it is sometimes.”
She later credited her relay teammates for spurring her on and calming her down ahead of their race.
Jing Wen, 24, said: “Coming off a really tough race, it was hard to get back into the rhythm of things… but being in the call room with the three of them really calmed my nerves and it reminded me of why I love swimming so much.
“This result gives me a boost of confidence. We had a good race and seeing the other countries come up, it’s exciting. It’s also a little bit nerve-racking but I’m excited to see how the team keeps the ball rolling.
“We did a good swim tonight. We didn’t get the gold but we came together as a team, raced as fast as we could and I don’t think we left any regrets out in the pool.”
Elder sister Ting Wen, who is looking to break Joscelin Yeo’s record of 62 medals and become Singapore’s most decorated athlete at the SEA Games, hopes the competitiveness of the field encourages her younger teammates to continue getting better.
She added: “Great job to the other teams. You can tell they’re all really strong this year and what made us good 20 years ago was having really strong teams around Southeast Asia. That’s how we started getting more competitive also, and that’s great because that will push our younger ones to swim even better.”
The 33rd SEA Games are held in Thailand from 9 to 20 December 2025. 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.