SINGAPORE – National swimmer Gan Ching Hwee is no stranger to pressure. Even before she turned 13, she was turning heads with her impressive times, but these early successes also came with expectations from herself.
This led to her “overthinking and overanalysing” every race, but that has changed since she began her undergraduate studies at Indiana University in the United States in January 2022.
Gan, 19, now feels more relaxed going into races, a mindset shift she believes has been beneficial for her performances in the pool. She said: “I realise how much I’ve grown as an athlete as well because one main thing I’ve learnt from racing and training here is to just keep it simple.
“I want to do the best in everything that I do but sometimes if you put it in perspective, you don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself. No one is actually giving you pressure besides yourself, so just being relaxed and knowing you’ll still put in the same amount of effort, you can do that without overthinking.”
Her recent results show how her stint with Indiana University, who compete in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I – the highest level of intercollegiate athletics – has helped her.
At the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in March, Gan won a silver medal in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15min 46.28sec. In the 25-yard pool, she finished behind the University of Alabama’s Kensey McMahon (15:43.84) but ahead of the University of Wisconsin’s Paige McKenna (15:48.71).
At the Cambodia SEA Games in May, Gan took home four golds after winning the women’s 200m, 400m and 800m free and 4x200m free relay.
Getting frequent opportunities to compete has also helped Gan feel more at ease going into races. She said: “There’s not much time to overthink anything so it’s really just trusting the process and racing how I train.”
She credits her time in the US for improving the mental aspect of her game too, adding that getting through tough sets in training have helped push her mentally.
Having other long-distance swimmers to train with in school has been a refreshing change for Gan. Being one of the few distance swimmers in Singapore, there were times when training got challenging, and that was one of the main reasons she wanted to head to America.
Gan said: “I get so many people to train with and race with on a daily basis. It’s really different from before... Having this group of people to train with, to push each other, really helps me raise my level of performance.”
But moving over 15,000km away from home was initially tough as Gan felt homesick. Keeping in close contact with those at home and knowing she has their support has helped her cope. She has also forged close bonds with her teammates, noting that the team culture has helped her settle in and played a big role in pushing her to improve.
Gan said: “Coming here I knew I was going to be part of a college Division 1 swim team but I came to realise that team culture is such an integral part of performance here. I never realised how much the support from your teammates or just them cheering by the side of the pool could make such a big impact on your swims.”
She believes her experiences in the US will help her in her bid to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics ahead of key meets like the July 14-30 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka and Sept 23-Oct 8 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
She said: “Everyone would want to make the Olympics. I’m just going to take it one step at a time, I’m not going to get ahead of myself. It was very heartening and exciting to see Jonathan (Tan) beat that ‘A’ cut (in the 50 free at the SEA Games) because so many of us are gunning for that. It’s definitely on my mind.”
