Singapore’s Ritchie Oh makes comeback in open water swimming at World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE – When Ritchie Oh retired from competitive swimming in 2023, the idea of racing at a home world championships two years later was certainly not on his radar.

After competing at the 2019 SEA Games, Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 and two world championships, he felt he had reached the end of his journey in the sport.

Once driven by his goals of qualifying for major competitions, he began to feel stagnant, constantly measuring himself against others and training became a chore.

Oh said: “I stopped caring about what major meets I could qualify for, which had been my biggest drive before – to keep improving and making the next bigger competition.

“I dreaded going for training and did not have a goal any more.”

Now, the 22-year-old is among eight open water swimmers representing the Republic at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Oh said he had enjoyed the freedom in the first few months after his retirement, occasionally entering local meets to catch up with friends.

But by late 2024, something was missing.

He said: “I pushed myself in the gym, but after a few months I realised it wasn’t enough for me.

“I thought I was missing out on something, but I didn’t know it was swimming because I thought I had firmly made a decision to stop and I had no passion for it any more.”

After speaking to his parents and girlfriend Claire Tan, a national artistic swimmer, he realised that he missed swimming and began considering a comeback.

Though there was uncertainty, the thought of competing alongside Tan at major events again was hard to ignore, and he still enjoyed the adrenaline of racing.

About 10 months ago, Oh began training with coaches Roderick Eng and Jerome Teo at the Singapore Sports School.

Careful to avoid the long-distance training that had once worn him down, he initially focused on distances of 200m and below, aiming for a spot in the 4x200m freestyle relay team at the 2026 Asian Games.

But he soon turned to the 1,500m freestyle after realising his time away had made it difficult to hit the required benchmarks.

At the Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships in March, he finished a creditable fourth in the event.  

Coincidentally, Singapore Aquatics also sent out the selection criteria for open water swimming for the SEA Games and world championships during that period, and he decided to give it a go.

At the trials in April, he finished second in the 10km race to earn his spot at the world championships.

He said: “Every single day I came to the pool, regardless of how I felt, how bad the times were, I just kept pushing myself.

“Every day when you have a goal in mind, your discipline kicks in, your motivation gets sparked and I became hungry again.”

With open water swimming set to feature at the next three SEA Games, he has set his sights on reaching the podium at the 2027 and 2029 editions.

Juggling national service with training has been a challenge in his comeback journey.

While most open water swimmers clock 70km to 80km a week, Oh averages just 25km to 30km.

On days he is on shift, he wakes up at 4am to train by 5am, before reporting to base at 7.15am, often finishing at about 11pm.

He is grateful to his coaches for turning up an hour earlier on those mornings to help him squeeze in 5km to 6km before his duties.

Ahead of the world championships, which will also serve as a qualifier for December’s SEA Games, he said: “I want to do my best. I want to show my coaches and myself that all the hard work that I’ve put in is worth it.”

Also itching to compete at the championships is Chantal Liew, who contemplated retirement after narrowly missing out on the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Competing at home feels like a full circle for her, having made her national team debut in pool swimming a decade ago at the SEA Games in Singapore.

While Liew, Singapore’s first Olympic open water swimmer, is not sure how much longer she will compete, she wants to do her best and enjoy the championships, where she will take part in the 10km, 3km knockout and 4x1,500m relay.

The 26-year-old said: “I had half a mind after the last worlds to retire, but I was convinced by my coach to stay on for this one because he said racing at your home worlds isn’t something everyone can do and it’s special.

“In a way, I hope to redeem myself from Doha (qualifying event for Olympics). But more than that, I know I’m at the tail end of my career and I did read the other day what Naomi Osaka posted about enjoying whatever time I have left in the sport.

“So that’s what I’m going to be doing – I’m going to soak in the atmosphere and enjoy racing in front of family and friends.”