PHNOM PENH – The past, present and future of Singapore swimming was on show at the Morodok Techo Aquatics Centre on Thursday evening, as the Republic topped the SEA Games meet for the 10th straight edition with a mix of battled-hardened veterans and their youthful successors.
Head coach Gary Tan’s charges had claimed 19 golds from the first five days of competition and while the record of 23 – from the 2015 and 2019 Games – was likely out of reach, the team still wanted to better the 21 titles from the Hanoi Games just 12 months earlier.
After two near-misses in the women’s 50m butterfly and men’s 50m breaststroke, Gan Ching Hwee delivered No. 20 in the women’s 800m freestyle which she won in 8min 41.05sec, ahead of teammate Ashley Lim (8:48.88) and Vietnam’s Vo Thi My Tien (8:56.07).
Gan, 19, now has 11 golds from four Games and is a pillar of the squad. She said: “Near the middle of the race, my arms felt like stones but I knew I had to keep going and do it for Singapore.”
If Tan had heard her, he would have smiled. Instead, he bellowed along with the rest of his staff as they watched Ong Jung Yi swim the race of his life. The 22-year-old won the 200m fly in 1:59.44, just in front of Thailand’s Navaphat Wongcharoen (1:59.64) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Duy Khoa Ho (2:00.60).
Ong had finished fourth, third and third in this event at the last three Games. This was his first gold and after stopping to put on his glasses (exit Superman, hello Clark Kent), his voice trembled as he said: “I trained all my life for this moment and I’m so happy to win this for Singapore. Seeing others win their first gold here really inspired me.”
Tan described Ong’s swim as one of “fire and fight”, adding: “The way he swam, especially at the end, brought out a lot of emotions in us. We were super pumped. We want our young generation to have that as well.”
He highlighted how 13 of his swimmers who are under the age of 21 finished on the podium in Cambodia and said it was a positive sign, particularly with some potential retirements.
The team’s performances will serve as good motivation ahead of the world championships and Asian Games, he noted. They finished their Cambodia campaign with 22 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze medals.
The Asiad is where they want to make an impact, as Tan added: “We know we’re up against bigger, faster teams. We’re a tiny nation but who cares, we’re going to slay the giants.”
The head coach also defended the form of Teong Tzen Wei, who in 2022 won the 50m free and 50m fly – both in meet records – but lost both titles here. He leaves with just one gold in the men’s 4x100m medley.
Tan said: “Teong had a small blip, that’s about it. We’ll just have to figure out what we want him to work on, but we cannot take away what has been an amazing meet for the team.”
The standout in Phnom Penh has to be Quah Ting Wen, who turns 31 in August but shows no signs of slowing down. She won the 50m and 100m free and four relays, including Thursday’s final race, the women’s 4x100m medley.
Her six-gold haul matches her best tally at the 2019 Manila Games – when she was at her physical peak – and moves her to 34 overall, just six behind Singaporean golden girl Joscelin Yeo’s record.
Quah hinted that these Games, her ninth, might be her last, but said she still wants to race in July’s world championships, the Asian Games in September and try to qualify for Paris 2024, which would be her fourth Olympics.
An emotional Quah had to stop and gather herself several times during the interview. She said: “I’m just really proud of how I’ve done at this meet, I fought really hard in every event. I’m sorry my last individual race (second in the 50m fly) wasn’t how I wanted it.
“It’s been a long journey with Singapore. This means a lot to me. To some it’s just the South-east Asian Games but it’s been a huge part of my career and has a special place in my heart.”
