Singapore swimmer Gan Ching Hwee breaks women’s 800m freestyle national record at Olympics
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Gan Ching Hwee competing in the women's 1,500m freestyle heats on July 30, when she also set a national record.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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PARIS – National swimmer Gan Ching Hwee’s preparations before her women’s 800m freestyle heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug 2 were less than ideal.
Immediately after her warm-up, she experienced a stomachache and had to visit the washroom before reporting to the call room. Then, there was a slight delay to the start of her race at the Paris La Defense Arena.
In the past, such disruptions may have thrown Gan off, but this time she kept her cool, clocking 8min 32.37sec to eclipse her previous mark of 8:34.01 from the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June.
The 21-year-old finished seventh in Heat 1 and 11th overall in the 16-swimmer field, with the eight fastest swimmers qualifying for the final. The United States’ three-time defending champion Katie Ledecky topped the heats in 8:16.62.
This comes just three days after Gan lowered her 1,500m free national mark
She said: “The past few days have been quite emotional, being so happy from my best time on Tuesday and then having to bring myself back down and refocus coming into today’s meet.
“I think I did that pretty all right, I wouldn’t give myself an awesome job in terms of doing that because we had a bit of hiccups this morning with a little stomachache, I had to make a quick dash to the toilet right before the race, but I’m just really grateful to be here.”
Gan’s second race at the Olympics was vastly different from what she had experienced in her first event on July 30.
Her 1,500m free heat featured just three swimmers, but this time she was in the pool with seven other athletes, bringing a different kind of challenge.
She said: “Racing people and getting to chase them, not being in front and feeling that bit of pressure to stay competitive and be with the main pack, I would say helped me a lot today in terms of not really thinking too much, or overthinking my own swim.
“Instead, I have people to chase and just people to race with and really be in that race and being competitive. It’s a very different race this time and I love racing.”
She will next join teammates Letitia Sim, Levenia Sim and Quah Jing Wen in the women’s 4x100m medley relay on Aug 3. – Additional reporting Lin Tianbao
