Singapore distance swimmer Russel Pang sets new mark at Asian Games

TOKYO – Inspired by national teammate and training partner Gan Ching Hwee’s exploits at the Asian Games, Singaporean teenager Russel Pang set a men’s 1,500m freestyle national record of 15:22.16 on Sept 22.

In his first Asiad, the 16-year-old finished second in the B final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre behind Qatar’s Saadeddin Saadeddin (15:21.33).

He said: “Ching Hwee’s been great. She is one of the best teammates I’ve had. On days when it’s been really tiring for me, she’s always the one encouraging me to work through it and the next day will be better.”

Russel started swimming at five and began competing two years later. He was proficient in all four strokes, but focused on distance swimming after discovering he had superior aerobic fitness.

The Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student then announced himself on the international stage with a 1,500m freestyle bronze on his SEA Games debut last December, when he set his first national record of 15:28.46 en route to a bronze.

He backed that up with a 15:25.58 at the Commonwealth Games in July before claiming his third national record in a third major games in nine months.

Russel, who also owns the men’s 800m freestyle national record of 8:04.70, said: “It feels great to know that all the work that I put in for the past few months, leading up to the Asian Games, have paid off.

“We went to Kunming for a 28-day training camp and I was definitely hoping to go below the 15:20 mark, but nonetheless, I’m pretty happy with the time.

“During the laps, I try to focus on whatever my coach told me about technique and execution, which will lead to a good time.”

This is the second national record set by a Singapore teenager at the Asian Games swim meet, with 16-year-old Tedd Chan lowering the men’s 50m backstroke mark to 24.97 a day earlier.

Gan, who won the women’s 1,500m freestyle silver on Sept 20, said: “I’m glad to see Russel grow and flourish as a swimmer. It’s very heartening to see him do so well and it gives me motivation. His race was right before mine, so I was cheering for him in the call room when I was looking at the scoreboard, it was very exciting.”

From the women’s 400m freestyle heats, Gan (4:13.05) and compatriot Victoria Lim (4:20.51) progressed to the evening finals in fifth and ninth place overall.

Victoria, who turns 16 on Sept 23, clocked her second personal best following her women’s 200m freestyle effort on Sept 21. She said: “When I looked at the scoreboard, I was honestly in shock because I woke up this morning really tired from yesterday’s swim, and I didn’t think I was going to make the final again today.

“I just gave it my all, and tried to follow what my coach told me as much as possible, which was to go out hard and hang on at the back. I think I did that really well, and I’m really proud of myself.”

Singapore’s quartet of Tedd, Chan Chun Ho, Ardi Zulhilmi Azman and Mikkel Lee finished sixth overall with a time of 3:39.76 in the 4x100m medley relay heats to make it to the evening’s finals.

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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.