Cal swimming at ‘18 Asian Games: 7 relay medals (2 Silvers, 5 Bronzes) to 3 Bears

From GBK Aquatic Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, the swimming portion of the 2018 Asian Games is yet another stage for Cal swimmers, current and alumni, to shine.

The swimming events took place in this past week (August 19th to 24th). While Japan and China have dominated the contest, Golden Bears representing the much much smaller city/state of Singapore and Hong Kong have also found their way onto the podium.

The results and time have mostly been pulled from this wiki page.

Cal Women alumnae Stephanie Au and Camille Cheng on Team Hong Kong:

The Hong Kong women first made the podium by claiming the Bronze in the 4x100m Freestyle relay. They finished with a time of 3:41.88 behind Japan (3:36.52) and China (3:36.78). This Hong Kong quartet includes two Golden Bears alumni, both 2016 Rio Calympians, in Stephanie Au (3x Calympian, Hong Kong’s flag bearer in the 2016 Rio games) and Camille Cheng.

Camille Cheng is also a part of the Bronze winning Hong Kong women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay team. Her split of 2:00.85 was the best in that race for Team Hong Kong. Hong Kong won the Bronze with a time of 8:07.17 behind China (7:48.61) and Japan (7:53.83).

Better yet, Au and Cheng surpassed their expectation by helping Hong Kong to a Silver medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay. Au broke her own Hong Kong record in the leadoff backstroke swim. Cheng swam the anchor freestyle leg. Team Hong Kong placed 2nd after China and South Korea were DQ’ed. Japan won the race with a time of 3:54.73. Hong Kong’s 2nd place time was 4:03.15. Singapore took the Bronze.

Au and Cheng also swam for Team Hong Kong in the Mixed Medley Relay (new event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics!). Au swam the backstroke while Cheng swam the freestyle while teaming up with Kenneth To and Nicholas Lim. They placed 4th with a time of 3:50.22 just behind the Bronze winning South Korea (3:49.27).

Individually, Stephani Au had qualified for the 100m Backstroke final but scratched the final (to focus on her relay swim the next day?). Au also made the 50m Backstroke (6th place) and the 50m Free (8th place) finals.

Camille Cheng made two individual finals while placing 5th in 100m Free and 6th in 200m Free.

Cal Men junior Zheng Wen Quah on Team Singapore:

On the men’s side, current Cal junior Zheng Wen Quah (who also participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics prior to attending Cal) teamed up with University of Texas star Joseph Schooling (who actually teamed with Cal great Ryan Murphy in high school at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida) to win a pair of Bronze medals in relays. Both Schooling, who recently exhausted his collegiate eligibility, and Quah have made some money while swimming as amateurs; by allowing both to swim collegiately have been a big part of the recent relaxation of rules by NCAA to allow amateur swimmers to collect monetary rewards for their National and International successes.

Singapore got on the podium first for the men’s 4x200m Free relay. Their time of 7:14.15, a Singapore National Record, is 3rd behind Japan (7:05.17) and China (7:05.45).

Singpore also placed 3rd in the 4x100m Free relay with a time of 3:17.22 (another National Record), behind Japan (3:12.68) and China (3:13.29).

Quah also swam the leadoff backstroke leg (Cal is Backstroke U!) for Team Singapore in the 4x100m Medley Relay. They just missed the podium by placing 4th with a total time of 3:37.68, just behind Kazakhstan (3:35.62) who go the Bronze.

Individually, Quah came close to the podium in the 100m Fly which was won by Schooling. Quah touched the wall 4th in that final. He also made the final in 200m Fly, and finished in 6th place.

Here are the medals won by the Cal Bears again:

• Stephanie Au, Hong Kong - Bronze, Women’s 4x100m Free Relay
• Stephanie Au, Hong Kong - Silver, Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (Backstroke)
• Camille Cheng, Hong Kong - Bronze, Women’s 4x100m Free Relay
• Camille Cheng, Hong Kong - Bronze, Women’s 4x200m Free Relay
• Camille Cheng, Hong Kong - Silver, Women’s 4x100 Medley Relay (Freestyle)
• Zheng Wen Quah, Singapore - Bronze, Men’s 4x200m Free Relay
• Zheng Wen Quah, Singapore - Bronze, Men’s 4x100m Free Relay

Congratulations to all of the Golden Bears that competed in the 2018 Asian Games. They have made a lot of Cal alum, particularly CGB contributor “LeonPowe” (not the actual former Cal basketball player) who resides in Hong Kong, very happy.

GO BEARS!