Hit by an unfortunate spate of illnesses, a number of Team Singapore’s swimmers did not make the Olympic “A” mark at the Singapura Finance 47th Singapore National Age Group (SNAG) Swimming Championships, which came to a close at the OCBC Aquatic Centre last night.

National coach Sergio Lopez admitted yesterday that he had “mixed feelings” about the team’s results at the meet, which was the final local qualifier for the swimmers to make the “A” cuts for the Games in August.

A total of 10 Singapore swimmers, including Quah Ting Wen, Hoong En Qi and Danny Yeo, recorded Olympic “B” timings. Only Joseph Schooling — who did not compete in the championships — and Quah Zheng Wen have met the “A” marks, which guarantee them a spot at the Olympic Games.

Despite the results, Lopez said he was pleased with the level of swimming from his senior swimmers, including Ting Wen, who clocked a new national record time of 55.52s in the women’s 100m freestyle yesterday.

“There is a bittersweet feeling about the SNAG this year because I think we could have done better if not for the unfortunate sicknesses, but I’m happy with the way we responded to that,” said Lopez, 47. “There were swimmers down with fever, diarrhoea and other ailments.

“Swimmers like Ting Wen improved their times considerably and showed an encouraging level for the Olympics.” NOAH TAN