By May Chen

SHAHRIR Anuar and Jared Lim are no strangers to the relay scene, having played pivotal roles in their school's clocking record times in the Singapore Press Holdings Schools Relay Championships for the past two years.

This year, the bar will be raised for them - the 16-year-olds will be teaming up with two other students one year younger than them to represent the Singapore Sports School (SSP) in the A Division category for athletes aged 17-19.

Despite the duo being potential Asian Youth Games (AYG) representatives, they acknowledge that getting a hat-trick of records will not be easy.

'Obviously, it's going to be quite challenging, running against people who are older, stronger and faster than us,' said Jared, who starred in the school's 4x100 metres relay wins in the B and C Divisions in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

Teammate Shahrir added: 'But this is good exposure for us because this is the kind of standard we will face if we take part in international competitions.'

In this year's edition of the SPH Schools Relay Championships, which take place today and tomorrow at the Bukit Gombak Stadium, the SSP are breaking tradition by sending their students to take part in older age-group divisions.

Secondary 1 students will still compete in the C Division, but their seniors will move up the ladder - the 14-year-olds will compete in the B Division (ages 15-16), while the upper-secondary students will pit themselves against older A Division rivals.

Explained SSP Director of Sports Irwin Seet: 'We're trying to push them in terms of their preparation for the nationals, as well as look ahead to the AYG.'

Shahrir and Jared were part of the C Division team that won the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m events in 2007 - setting new marks for all of them.

Last year, they rewrote the 4x100m relay record twice, winning the inaugural Tay Cheng Khoon Memorial Trophy for their feat.

Coach Remy Gan said: 'We cannot predict how we will do in the races that we were previously comfortable in. It's not going to be easy.

'But our main aim this year is to expose the students to stiffer competition, and involve as many athletes as we can while doing that.'

The sprinters are not giving up all hope of a podium finish, though.

Said Shahrir: 'I'm confident we can qualify for the finals. It'll be a bonus if we manage to beat any teams older than us and, while at it, break a record.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.