In his first international competition, NIST star athlete Nathan Stern performed extremely well at the 37th Southeast Asian Age Group (SEAAG) Swimming Championships held in Brunei from 7-9 June 2013. Representing the Thai team, Nathan successfully qualified for three final heats after competing against top swimmers from all over Southeast Asia during the preliminary rounds at the Aquatics Centre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas. This was a milestone achievement for the young Falcon swimmer, who said he owes all his success to the outstanding NIST coaches who challenge and nurture him to be the best he can be both in and outside of school.

In the Boys 13 & Under 100 Meter Butterfly, Nathan came in 3rd place with the time of 1:02.40, which was considerably faster than his previous time of 1:03.40. While in the Boys 13 & Under 50 Meter Freestyle, Nathan won the silver medal with the time of 25.98 seconds.

In an exciting finish, Nathan narrowly missed out on 1st place, losing to Singaporean Darren Chua by just a hundredth of a second, in the Boys 13 & Under 50 Meter Butterfly. In the anxious moments before the official times were posted on the board, the Thai team – and even the large crowd in attendance – were certain that Nathan had clinched the gold medal. However, the time of 27.70 seconds by the Singaporean beat Nathan’s time of 27.71.

Although Nathan was unable to come away with gold medals or SEAAG records, he improved on all his seed times as well as personal best times and did his country and school very proud! NIST also congratulates the other members of the Thai team on their excellent effort and performances over the competition.

At the end of the three-day competition, Singapore was crowned the champions with 29 Gold, 24 Silver, 25 Bronze medals and nine SEA AG records. Thailand followed closely behind in the seven-country table with 28 Gold, 40 Silver and 24 Bronze medals, while Malaysia came in 3rd with their total of 24 Gold, 18 Silver and 15 Bronze medals.