No more Olympic qualifiers for Singapore swimming; Teong Tzen Wei, Quah Zheng Wen miss the cut

SINGAPORE – Team Singapore have confirmed their roster of five swimmers for the Paris Olympics – barring any late developments – as the Singapore National Swimming Championships (SNSC) concluded on June 15 without anyone meeting the Olympic qualifying mark.

The meet was the last opportunity for the swimmers to book their 2024 Olympic spot. World swimming body Fina will inform the national Olympic committees of their allocations on July 3.

Jonathan Tan and Letitia Sim had earlier qualified for the men’s 50m freestyle and women’s 100m breaststroke respectively, while the women’s 4x100m medley relay team of Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Letitia and Levenia Sim also earned a berth with their top-13 finish at the World Aquatics Championships.

But top swimmers like Commonwealth Games silver medallist Teong Tzen Wei and three-time Olympian Quah Zheng Wen will be missing from the roster after failing to attain the mark.

For the Tokyo 2020 Games, Joseph Schooling and Zheng Wen met the qualifying times for three events while Chantal Liew qualified for the women’s 10km open water and Ting Wen made it via a universality place.

Summing up the qualifying campaign, national swimming head coach Gary Tan said: “I think we did a great job. The coaches put in a lot of effort to make the team come together as one and get the relay to qualify outright. It’s a big milestone for us.

“We always want more swimmers to qualify and the reality is we tried to push as much as we could to get as many in as we can. People may not realise but the qualifying timing becomes faster with each Olympics.”

Gary felt the swimmers are moving in the right direction, citing national records set in 12 Olympic events during the qualification period, as well as some near misses.

These include Teong, 26, going under the men’s 50m qualifying mark of 21.96sec though his personal best (21.93sec) was recorded at the SEA Games in 2022, outside the qualification period.

Gan Ching Hwee lopped more than 10 seconds off her women’s 1,500m freestyle national record to set a new mark of 16min 10.61sec to go within two seconds of the qualifying time of 16:09.09, while Liew narrowly missed out on another appearance by 1.7sec.

Injuries and illness also disrupted the preparations of Teong (elbow) and Nicholas Mahabir (mononucleosis), preventing them from going full tilt during this campaign.

Looking ahead, Gary noted that there is a pressing need to add depth to the women’s team as sprinters Amanda Lim and Ting Wen are in their 30s.

He said: “Ching Hwee and Letitia are good leaders among the next band of female athletes coming through, but we need more people coming through to fill in the gaps for the freestyle and butterfly sprints. I want to challenge the younger generation to start pushing the boundaries a bit to get into these positions.”

The men’s team are in a healthier position in terms of depth, he added, as sprinters Jonathan and Mikkel Lee are coming into their own while Ardi Azman and Jerald Lium are also stepping up.

On June 14, 20-year-old Chan Jun Hao, who came through the National Training Centre, also produced a pleasant surprise by breaking Mahabir’s men’s 50m breaststroke record (27.91sec) with a time of 27.72sec.

Gary also called on the senior swimmers to take on more leadership responsibilities.

He said: “We are looking for Zheng and Teong to be the leaders, and swimmers like Johnny and Letitia to join them as those who lead the charge for the future of Singapore swimming.

“Teong has spoken to me and while he is very disappointed, his commitment to the sport is still there. He is geared up towards 2025 and we are going to take it one step at a time to get him fully healthy again.

“I’m also glad that Zheng has been reflective, as we need him to really push the boundaries a bit. We want him to take up a bit more of a leadership role and bring his experience to the table for the team.”