National School Games
recap
NSG 2025 Week 3: Crowns Seized, Barriers Broken, and New Eras Born
Written by Amir Rusyaidi Osman
Week 3
Published 28 April 2025
Speed Rules, Endurance Reigns, Crowns Claimed
Week 3 didn’t just close the National School Games.
It redefined what was possible.
In the A Girls sprints, Clara Lim (RI) cemented her reign. First came the 200m final—where she stormed to 25.07s, breaking her own semifinal record and setting a new Schools’ National Record. Then came the 100m, where she exploded to 12.12s, shattering the A Division record that she had set last year. In doing so, she also equalled Bernice Liew's National Schools record from 2019. Two races, two golds, and a double-crown that placed her among the fastest schoolgirls Singapore has ever seen.
Over the barriers, Sung Yejun (NUSHS) put on a steeplechase masterclass, running 6:18.97 to smash the 2000m Steeplechase record—a mark untouched since the 1990s. In the race walk, Wesley Zhao (HCI) shattered expectations, clocking 15:16.02 for a new Schools’ National Record in the B Boys 3000m walk—and pulling the entire top five under the old mark in the process.
In the distance events, Oliver Fiore (ADSS), one of the year's breakout stars, delivered a blazing 4:09.03 in the B Boys 1500m—rewriting the NSG record books and delivering the fastest schoolboy 1500m seen in a generation.
And finally, the baton lit up the track—HCI’s A Girls 4x100m team crushed their newly set record by blazing home in 48.18s, while VJC also dipped under the old mark in one of the deepest sprint relay finals ever seen at NSG.
Near Misses, Narrow Margins
Some victories are counted in medals.
Others—in inches, in heartbeats, in what-could-have-beens.
Lightning doesn’t always strike twice—but Daryen Ko (RI) nearly made it. He stopped the clock at 54.96s in the B Boys 400m Hurdles final, missing his own record by just 0.01s. In a Games full of fine margins, his dominance—and his daring—shone through.
Shannon Tan (Cedar Girls’) continued her ascent, delivering 12.27s in the 100m and 25.58s in the 200m—both agonizingly close to the storied sprint records of the 1980s.
In the field, Kwa Eu Han (RI) launched a huge 60.16m in the javelin, just missing the 61.91m championship record.
Jonathan Hoare (HCI) came within a whisker of history, running 10.94s in the 100m—mere hundredths away from the elite barrier of 10.87s.
In the distance events, Clara Chua (NYJC) added another chapter to her extraordinary season, clocking 4:54.77 in the 1500m—just over two seconds shy of the A Div record set in 2023.
And in the relays, ACS(I) powered home in 42.10s for the 4x100m, threatening but just missing the historic RJC standard from 2005.
New Names, New Legends
Medals shine.
But it’s the all-time lists where true legacies live.
Clara Lim’s 25.07s in the 200m rockets her into 10th all-time among Singapore’s fastest women.
Her 12.12s in the 100m? It ties her for 6th all-time—alongside legends whose names are stitched into the fabric of Singapore sprinting.
This isn’t just a great Games.
It’s the start of a new era.
* results obtained via Singapore Athletics archives and the respective World Athletics pages