The first 1st SAECAxDSA Short Course Carnival 2023 was held at the National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil on 26th August. The event was a part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Kuala Lumpur Sports Council (KLSC). DSA along with SAECA hosted this event which is slated to become an annual swimming festival. The event is positioned to provide a platform for junior and novice swimmers to experience and participate in a competitive environment.
SAECA is a sports and health themed social platform that can be joined by all walks of life who are interested and concerned about the development of self, family, organization and society in general. SAECA is supported by Innotex System Corporation Sdn Bhd to achieve its vision and mission towards creating a vibrant & intelligent community at various levels through Sports and Education activities.
The Swim Meet was open to participation to all invited swimming clubs in Malaysia and also to individuals and conducted according to the rules prescribed in the handbook of World Aquatics. Swimmers were classified according to age group with a fun Relay event for mixed group.
DSA had a very large team for the Meet with 268 swimmers which included swimmers both from the regular Swim Squad and also for the first time, swimmers from the Mini Squad also participated. This was a huge boost of morale for them as they were participating in a competitive atmosphere for the very first time. Swimmers who had never earlier been in a competitive environment before went through the many tasks of participating in a swim Meet.
The first timers were seen getting ready with warm-up sessions as early as 6.45am with a good crowd of their supporters egging them on as the heats began. The pathway of hearing the announcements of their event, reporting to the Marshalls, lining up for the race, doing the starts with a dive from the board, tumble turns and finally the finishes, it was all a great learning experience, and the wins didn’t matter. Everyone was simply thrilled to have been there and done that, a lasting memory to cherish, their first-ever swim Meet.
There were many winners and many of them took home the reward of their efforts and dedication and a detailed view of the Medal tally can be downloaded from the link below.
The much-awaited fun Mixed Relay events were held before the lunch break and the added attraction was the participation of the Malaysia National Team swimmers doing an exhibition Medley Relay for the public. The team included 2-time Olympian Swimmer Welson Sim, Olympian Phee Jinq En, SEA Games Swimmers Hii Puong Wei, Jayden Tan and Malaysian born Russian Olympian Andrey Zhilkin. Watching them move through the water effortlessly was a thrilling delight and no doubt a major source of inspiration for all the aspiring little champions at the Meet.
The swim carnival is slated to be held as a yearly event under the partnership of SAECA and we look forward to the greater numbers and participation in the next versions of this event in the coming years.