Team Singapore’s contingent for the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games includes several up-and-coming young athletes who have the potential to become Singapore’s future sports stars. TODAY kicks off our countdown to the Games with swimming, focusing on some of these talented youth who are gunning for glory in Malaysia.

SINGAPORE — They are the next generation of Singapore swimmers tipped to achieve great things and succeed Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen. They will also be at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. In fact, 10 of the 27-strong swim squad will be making their debuts as Team Singapore aims to continue being the top swimming nation at the Games. 

The Republic bagged a record haul of 23 gold, 12 silver and seven bronze on home soil in 2015, and while National Training Centre head coach Gary Tan is aware that a similar haul is practically impossible this time, he told TODAY that he wants the rising young talents to prove themselves. 

“My aim is for all of them to do personal bests (PB),” he said. “What we can control is them swimming fast — the medals will come if they achieve their PBs. I want them to win as many gold medals as possible.”
TODAY profiles four of Singapore swimming’s brightest young talents who will be in action in KL: Francis Fong, Dylan Koo, Quah Jing Wen and Samuel Khoo.

FRANCIS FONG, 17 
SEA Games events: 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke

He was once so afraid of the water that he refused to go near a swimming pool. Francis Fong’s aquaphobia was triggered by a traumatic experience as a four-year-old, when he and his family were caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while holidaying in Krabi, Thailand.

He, his parents and his grandmother were injured by the massive waves hitting the shores, but survived the ordeal. 

Francis overcame his fear only after his parents enrolled him in swimming classes at the Singapore Island Country Club, and it eventually transformed into a love for racing and competing.

This month, the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (ACS-I) student makes his SEA Games debut and will vie for honours in three events. 

“My goal is to medal, hopefully for all my events,” said Francis, who won the 200m backstroke at this year’s Singapore National Age Group (SNAG) Championships. 

“The Indonesians will be quite strong ... I challenged them at two races and both times, I lost to Siman (I Gede Siman Sudartawa) in the backstroke. I’m working hard on my underwater techniques, putting in more mileage in training, and starting to increase my training load.”

Francis is also aiming to compete at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. 

“It’s going to be pretty tough next year with my IB (International Baccalaureate) exam ... but hopefully everything will go well,” he said.

DYLAN KOO, 18
SEA Games events: 50m, 100m butterfly

When he was five, Dylan Koo’s parents enrolled him in football lessons, a sport that he admitted he had “zero talent” in. 

He hated football, and especially hated running. “I had quite severe bronchitis when I was young so they put me in football,” said the 18-year-old. “I absolutely hated it ... and I still hate running today.”

But the young boy took to the water immediately after his grandfather — a fisherman — took him to the pool when he was only three. He eventually made the switch after spending a year learning football. 

Dylan, who holds the national Under-14 100m and 200m fly records, added: “It’s because of the friends I made before I started actual training — I really enjoyed the friendships and that made me go back.”

At the 2015 SEA Games, he finished fifth in the men’s 100m butterfly. Specialising in a stroke dominated by Olympic champion Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen can be demoralising for any young swimmer. Not Dylan.

The ACS-I student, who competed in last month’s Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas, said: “It might seem to be an insurmountable challenge, but they are older than me, and everybody will have their time. 

“They were in my position once. The fact that they succeeded gives me the confidence that I can do it. My time hasn’t come yet, but it will.”

QUAH JING WEN, 16
SEA Games: 200m, 400m individual medley, 100m, 200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay

It is not easy being the youngest sibling of multiple SEA Games medallist Quah Ting Wen, 24, and Olympic semi-finalist Quah Zheng Wen, 20. 

But Quah Jing Wen is ready to step out of their shadow at this year’s SEA Games. “When I was 12, my siblings were making a splash in the pool ... I was thinking ‘do I want to continue?’,” she admitted.

“They are my idols, but I started thinking about my future in swimming.”

But her love for the sport prevailed. “I’m happy when I’m swimming. There are always times when you’re tired with school and training, but I can’t imagine my life without swimming.”

This SEA Games will be Jing Wen’s second. In Singapore two years ago, she competed in just the 400m individual medley and won a bronze. “Because I only had one event, there was a lot of pressure to do my best in it,” she said.

Jing Wen wants to better her times in KL but has not set a medal target. “Medals would be nice but not the main focus,” she said.

“I always feel a lot of pressure when I’m racing. I aim to be as fearless as Zheng Wen. I try not to let the pressure of being their sibling affect me. 

“I want to make a name for myself, and not be someone’s sibling.”

SAMUEL KHOO, 18
SEA Games events: 50m, 100m, 200m breaststroke 

He started swimming when he was seven, as his parents wanted him to follow his older siblings, who both took up the sport as young children.

Ironically, Samuel, 18, is the only one who has kept going. His elder brother Bryan, now 26, and sister Rachel, 24, have switched to canoeing and softball. 

Like many of his team-mates, Samuel said it was the friendships forged during swimming classes that kept him going back to the pool. 

“I always looked forward to meeting them. We’d play catching, hide and seek at Toa Payoh swimming complex. Back then, swimming was not that stressful as there were no targets and no goals.”

Things took a more serious turn in Primary 4, when he took part in his first national inter-school swimming championships. 

“I found I loved the feeling of competing. Since then, I really love the satisfaction you get after finishing a race.”

The Raffles Institution student, who won three silvers at this year’s SNAG, will be making his SEA Games debut in KL. He will be competing alongside his cousin Lionel Khoo, who won a medley relay gold and silver in the 200m breaststroke in 2015. 

Samuel is relishing racing alongside his cousin. “I don’t see him as a competitor. In fact, It’s special to have someone you know in the call room … you don’t feel afraid no matter how intimidating it is. Having him there will give me a sense of security.”

WHO TO WATCH OUT FOR: 

* Joseph Schooling (Singapore) – Olympic champion in the men’s 100m butterfly, bronze medalist at the 2015 and 2017 Fina World Championships, 17 gold medals at the SEA Games

* Quah Zheng Wen (Singapore) – Olympic semi-finalist (100m and 200m butterfly), 11-time SEA Games gold medalists 

* Welson Sim (Malaysia) – Competed in his first Olympics last year in the 200m and 400m freestyle; defeated reigning Olympic champion (400m freestyle) Mack Horton of Australia at the Mare Nostrum tour in Monaco this year

* Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (Vietnam) – Competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 2016 Asian champion (400m medley), two bronze medals at 2014 Asian Games, eight gold medals, six games records at 2015 SEA Games