Gan Ching Hwee leads few Asiad medal hopefuls in transition period for Singapore swimming

SINGAPORE – In recent years, Gan Ching Hwee has been blazing a trail for Singapore distance swimming, sweeping the women’s 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle golds at the SEA Games and setting national records for each event at various major competitions.

The biggest splash she has made is over 1,500m, as she finished ninth at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a then-national record of 16min 10.13sec, before bringing it down to 16:01.29 when she progressed from the heats at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships (WAQ).

With a sub-16min timing within sight and reach, another personal best in the direct final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sept 20 could see the 23-year-old make her first Asian Games podium. But she knows she has to stay calm and focused amid the medal chatter.

She told The Straits Times: “At this level, there is definitely pressure and expectations. Turning these into an opportunity to put what I’ve done in training into my races makes the pressure more manageable.

“A big part of doing well at major Games comes from experience, as well as trying not to look too far ahead or dwell too much on past performances – be it good or bad. Each Games has its own set of circumstances and challenges so I’ve learnt to take each race as it comes, live in the present and lean back on the basics, such as my routines and things within my control.

“The goal is to put together the best version of each race that I can, and do my best for Team Singapore. And by focusing on the process and getting it done right, the results should follow.”

Among the active women’s 1,500m freestyle swimmers, China’s Li Bingjie is hot favourite to retain her title. One of just five Asian swimmers to have breached the 16-minute barrier, the 24-year-old owns 16 out of the 30 fastest times swam by an Asian in the event.

China will also have the luxury of picking one other participant – each country can field a maximum of two athletes in each event – from 18-year-old Gao Weizhong, silver medallist from the 2023 edition, and 17-year-old Wu Ruoxin, who is dubbed the female Sun Yang.

There are also the home threats, with Japan’s 22-year-old Ichika Kajimoto improving from her WAQ open water women’s 3km knockout sprints gold and 5km bronze to clock an impressive 15:58.59 at the Asiad venue in March. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Airi Ebina has also emerged as a medal contender with a personal best of 16:02.22 in May.

Following Olympic champion Joseph Schooling’s retirement in 2024, breaststroke specialist Letitia Sim’s surprise move to hang up her goggles in May, and the decision by the Quah siblings – Ting Wen, Zheng Wen and Jing Wen – to pursue post-graduate studies, the national swim team are in a transition phase and face pressure to keep up their streak of winning at least one medal at every Asiad this millennium.

In 2023, sprinter Teong Tzen Wei won their only medal with his men’s 50m butterfly silver, and he remains a contender alongside Mikkel Lee, while national record holder Chan Junhao will look to surprise in the men’s 50m breaststroke.

In the women’s 50m freestyle, Amanda Lim will be buoyed by her national record of 24.77 in May and could challenge for a medal if she continues to improve even at 33.

National swimming head coach and performance director Gary Tan noted that this Asiad is a “key milestone during this transition” as Singapore Aquatics field 29 swimmers, of which 19 are debutants, with an average age of 20.

Among them are 16-year-old Russel Pang (men’s 800m and 1,500m freestyle) and 15-year-old Julia Yeo (women’s 200m backstroke) who already own national records.

Tan shared that some of the swimmers headed directly to Tokyo after a China training camp, while others in Singapore raced in their final tune-up meet at the Aug 28-30 Singapore National Swimming Short Course Invitational.

He said: “Swimming has always been looked to as one of Singapore’s key medal prospects at major multi-sport events. We welcome these expectations and we always aim to improve on what we’ve done before.

“Pressure is part of elite sport. But pressure doesn’t come from whether we’re going to win medals at these Games or not. What is most important for us at these Games is achieving the milestones and markers of progress we’ve set for ourselves, and racing at this level will be a good test.

“We expect that most of these swimmers will form part of the core team that we’re building for major competitions over the next few years, and will contribute in both the individual and relay events. We are confident that our athletes will show up well at the Games, regardless of their level of experience.”

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David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.