Singapore swimmer Zackery Tay willing to go the distance for Olympic dream

SINGAPORE – National swimmer Zackery Tay was just 13 when he told his parents he wanted to train in Thailand.

The former Football Association of Singapore junior centre of excellence Under-10 player had taken up swimming as a co-curricular activity with his friends three years earlier as their primary school did not offer football as a CCA.

To get up to speed for competitions, he joined a swim school for extra training. In time, he found his niche in backstroke and individual medley, events that the 18-year-old will be competing in at the Oct 31-Nov 2 Singapore leg of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup at OCBC Aquatic Centre.

Single-mindedness is his forte. In 2017, a one-week training camp with another Singapore swim school at a Fina (now known as World Aquatics) training centre in Phuket led to him deciding to train there for a longer period.

To support his sporting aspiration, his father quit his job in the oil industry so that the family could relocate there.

Tay said: “I saw how seriously and systematically they trained over there and how passionate the coach (Miguel Lopez) was, I felt it would be a good place to train and develop, so I told my parents I would like to try it out.

“I was only 13 and they asked if I was really sure. But they were super supportive and they said if this was what I’m serious about doing, then they would support me.”

For two years, his regimen revolved around the Thanyapura Sports and Health Resort, where he would wake up at 4.30am for a two-hour training session. Classes at an international school were next from 8am to 3pm, before another two-hour training session till 6pm. Bedtime was 9pm.

It was not the most exciting life for a teenager, but it was rewarding for someone sure of his goals, as Tay said: “I was just blindly swimming... but the coach there taught me how to set goals and really go for it.

“I got to train with more mature and disciplined guys who knew what they were doing. I learnt how to take care of my body and how to have the right mindset.”

The Covid-19 pandemic meant the family returned to Singapore in 2020, but his parents’ support did not waver. They rented a house with a 12-metre pool so that Tay could still train during lockdown, clocking 50km to 60km a week when others could not train.

After the pandemic restrictions eased, he joined the National Training Centre’s programme for swimmers aged 13 to 15. Inspired by the Quah siblings, in particular three-time Olympian and fellow backstroker Zheng Wen, he decided to stay and train in Singapore.

He took a gap year after his O levels so he could train full-time in 2023 and try to qualify for major meets, and made it to the Commonwealth Youth Games, World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships and Asian Games that year.

After enrolling in Temasek Polytechnic’s common business programme in 2024, Tay continued his upward trajectory.

He set personal bests in the 100m and 200m backstroke, and 200m and 400m individual medley en route to winning the four events at the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June.

While he knows he still has some way to go to achieve his dream of qualifying for an Olympic final, Tay believes he can get there if he keeps working hard to tick off smaller milestones.

These include reaching a final at the Swimming World Cup, in which he has been pencilled in for the 100m and 200m backstroke and 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley events.

“Training has been a bit rough but I want to give myself the best opportunity to put up a good race,” said Tay, who is also eyeing the SEA Games, Asian Games and world championships as his stepping stones towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

National swimming coach Gary Tan is heartened to see young swimmers like Tay going the extra mile.

He said: “We hope that in time, they will earn their stripes and contribute more to the national team. We will use the World Cup to tune up for the new season and focus on qualifying for the year-end short-course world championships.

“After that, the priority in 2025 is the long-course world championships in home waters, and this World Cup is a good meet for us to assess our swimmers’ condition without tapering.”