Singapore’s Khoo sisters take plunge in overseas move to swim and study

KUALA LUMPUR — Two Tuesdays ago (Aug 22), Faith Khoo swam in her first ever SEA Games race in the 200m backstroke heats, made the final and finished a respectable sixth out of eight competitors.

Barely a day later, the 13-year-old hopped on a plane to the United States to join elder sister Ashley, 15, in Jacksonville, Florida.

The pair are the latest Singaporean swimmers to head overseas to the United States in a bid to train at a higher level and have enrolled at the Bolles School, which notably boasts Olympic champion Joseph Schooling as an alumni.

Their parents, Terence and Serena, told TODAY that while the idea of sending their daughters overseas to train and study has been talked about for a while, they only started to seriously explore the idea around late September last year.

“We felt that studying and swimming in the US would offer the kids more opportunities for them to progress and to have more of a balanced lifestyle while they are at it,” Serena said. “Over there, there are more challenges, competitions and exposure, more of everything – it’s just so big.”

The siblings’ progress in the sport also factored into the decision, said Terence. “The biggest one was that we felt that we could see some talent and had the desire to compete at a higher level, so we asked ourselves on the balance of things, what would give them a better option to succeed?”

To ensure they made the right decision, the Khoos embarked on a month-long road trip in the US at the end of last November, where they visited a school each in Indiana and Tennessee, in addition to Bolles.

There, both Faith and Ashley got to experience the training programmes in each of the three schools first-hand, while the parents got to examine the suitability of each as well.

In the end, Bolles won them over with a programme that integrates swimming, academics and boarding seamlessly.

“A 100 per cent, it was the trip that convinced us,” said Terence, who is the president of the Singapore Rugby Union and the managing director of sports marketing agency Enterprise Sports Group.

“We felt that it was actually important to be there and look at it, because… if you didn’t see it and immerse yourself in those experiences, it’d probably have been a very difficult decision."

The Khoos also spoke with parents of students who are in the Bolles swimming programme, as well as May Schooling, the mother of Joseph Schooling, to get a sense of the city. 

"We asked them general questions about the American education system, about being a student in Bolles, about living in Jacksonville, and about the school's swimming programme to get a more local feel about the school and the city which we are sending our kids to," said Serena.

“We took a lot of advice from people, we had different opinions, but ultimately… we made a decision as a family that that was the right choice for us.”

The friendly environment at Bolles appealed to Ashley, who also liked the “nice” campus and the balance between sports and studies that it offered.

“I liked what they were doing and everyone there is really driven to swim fast also,” she said. “A lot of top swimmers came from that school as well, which was also a consideration.

“There are more things we can experience and learn in the US, and also a different type of education as compared to the very academic-based one here.”

Both girls’ enrolment was finalised about two months ago and Ashley will study in Grade 10 at the school, with Faith in Grade 9. The plan is for them to complete their university education in the US and Serena will be with the duo at the start to help them get settled in.

While the elder sister was excited about heading to the US when the idea was first mooted, her sibling was more hesitant and apprehensive.

“We said, ‘Faith, we’ll just send Ash then’ and she was like ‘no, no, I’m going too!’,” chuckled Terence.

While sad to leave behind her family and friends, especially those from the Singapore Swimming Club and Raffles Girls School, Faith recognised the value of going abroad.

“We will be going to a school which has a strong legacy in swimming,” she said. “I think that the school supports its students greatly in both their studies and their sport. I hope this balance will enable me to excel in my swimming.”

The annual cost for both is expected to add up to around S$140,000, but it is a financial investment that Terence and Serena are willing to undertake.

“We feel that the US will open their eyes and the experience they could have will be different to the one they will have here,” Serena said.

“When we spoke to the academic department, they gave us a very good feeling that the system was going to offer them a dual-track to succeed in both sport and academics.”

Both hope to become better swimmers and Faith, who holds the Under-14 national records in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, is targeting qualification for the next Olympics.

“I hope to qualify for the 2020 Olympics,” she said. “It’s always been my dream since I was younger to reach the Olympics and now as I am older, I look at target meets and Tokyo is what I think I can train for.”

Serena added: “If they both can achieve (qualification for) 2020, that’d be fantastic. If not, we can go for the next one.

"We know at the end of the day, there’s no guarantee but if you don’t venture, there’s no gain.”