HONG KONG swimming records usually fall like dominoes at major international competitions, where local athletes are pushed to their limits by more talented pool champions from around the world.
But the young Hong Kong squad is suffering a famine of sorts at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, this week.
The squad has now gone three days without achieving a single local record, or an Olympic qualifying time.
Before leaving for Spain last week, national coach Chan Yiu-hoi had warned that stage fright could interfere with the athletes' performance.
'It's the first world championships for many of them, and they may get over-excited or even frightened,' said Chan.
On Tuesday, Tam Chi-kin and Li Cheuk-lun showed they are a close match but sluggish in comparison to the world's best in the 50-metre breaststroke.
Li timed 30.67 seconds, and Tam 30.69, placing them 55th and 56th out of 108 entries overall. The slowest qualifier finished in 28.42, but no Hong Kong swimmer has ever raced that fast. The SAR best of 29.62 was achieved by Andrew Rutherford at the 1992 Olympic Games.