Gan Ching Hwee breaks Asian short-course record in women’s 1,500m freestyle

SINGAPORE – Less than a month after bagging a hat-trick of silver medals at the Asian Games, Singapore distance swimmer Gan Ching Hwee has continued her red-hot form in the pool.

At the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan, she broke the Asian record for the women’s 1,500m freestyle on Oct 15, clocking 15min 38.41sec to win gold in the third stop of the short-course competition.

The 23-year-old, who finished ahead of New Zealand’s Caitlin Deans (15:48.38) and China’s Chang Mohan (15:55.61), also earned US$10,000 (S$12,800) for her win.

In the process, Gan also lowered the national record for the second time in six days, shaving 6.82sec off the 15:45.23 mark that helped her emerge victorious at the second stop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Oct 10.

The previous Asian record of 15:41.80 was set by China’s Li Bingjie at the Chinese National Championships in 2022.

Gan said she “was not really going” for the Asian mark, considering it a “bonus target” after getting a reminder in Tashkent.

She added: “After last week’s 1,500m freestyle, I actually looked at it and I remember the Asian record was 15:41, because when I swam in Budapest (15:50.37) two years ago, I remembered that I was maybe nine seconds away from the Asian record, and I got reminded of it, and then coming into this week, it was like a bonus target along the way.

“It got me quite excited for the 1,500m, and I think it’s very special to me because it’s my main event and I haven’t done short course in a long time.

“Over three stops (of the World Cup), I just really told myself that every stop is a learning opportunity. The aim is to get better and better as we go because having not done short course, it’s something very new to the body, so it takes a bit of time to make changes and to adapt.”

She will continue competing in short-course races and her next event will be at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing from Dec 1 to 6.

Gan, who finished just behind China’s Li in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle events at the Asiad in Japan in September, said that the transition to World Cup racing was “not the most smooth sailing”.

She added: “It’s been a long time since I’ve actually done back-to-back racing over such a long period of time.

“I thought the Commonwealth Games into Asian Games was already quite a tight window, especially from racing and then hopping back into training and then racing.

“Just coming into this competition season, I really wanted to take it easy, and take the mental stress out because I think the Asian Games was very mentally intense, so coming to the World Cup, I told myself, really take the time to enjoy, live in the moment, make new friends and just soak in the entire experience.”

Teammate Teong Tzen Wei also made the podium twice over two legs of the World Cup. He earned a silver in the men’s 50m butterfly in the first stop in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Oct 3, clocking 22.01sec to finish behind Russian Egor Kornev (21.64sec) and ahead of China’s Chen Jun’er (22.24sec).

In the same event in Tashkent on Oct 10, he tied for silver with Australia’s Isaac Cooper in 21.96sec, as Kornev set a world record of 21.28sec.