Swim Drama Victory Lap Is Dasmond Koh’s 3-Years-In-The-Making Passion Project With The Late Aloysius Pang

Mediacorp drama Victory Lap has been making serious waves. It could be because the 13-episode series sees hot and hunky actors Zong Zijie, Gavin Teo, Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri and Glenn Yong in various states of undress for most of the show.

It could also be because the journey of these four young men, who aim to join the national swim team, resonates clearly with many young Singaporeans who have to strike a balance between going after their dreams and managing societal expectations at the same time.

Speaking to 8days.sg over the phone, NoonTalk head honcho and Victory Lap executive producer Dasmond Koh, 48, pauses for a moment when we ask him how he feels about the positive reception the series has received. He then shares: “This is the first time we made an online drama, so every single feedback, good or bad, is important to us and we’re thankful for it. This show has become everybody’s baby.

This 'baby', Dasmond adds, is the brainchild of him and the late Aloysius Pang, who came up with the idea of doing a youth-centric drama three years ago.

Dasmond says, “Aloysius initially wrote the character of the coach [which was eventually played by Xu Bin] for himself. He said that he wanted to play the coach years after playing a swimmer in I’m In Charge. At the same time, we wanted to [go on a walk down memory lane by re-visiting] the memories that the previous generation has [of our local dramas], which is why we had shot a “bikini run” in Bugis. We were inspired by Fiona Xie’s iconic scene [from The Champion] where she ran along Orchard Road in a bikini. That was really an iconic swimming series.”

So what would Aloysius have said about the final product? I can't speak on his behalf but he should at least be happy to finally see a full-fledged production from NoonTalk, says Dasmond.

A swim drama would naturally mean a lot of time in the pool, and Dasmond explains that he was very lucky to have access to a pool in Bangkok for two weeks, where they shot the majority of the swimming scenes. Booking a pool there means they had unlimited access to the location and could film from morning to night without worrying about having to wrap up by a certain time.

“I don’t think there were any challenges for me because I’m not the one who was swimming,” he laughs. “The ones that suffered were the actors because they had to jump in the pool in the morning and swim for the rest of the day.”

One consideration they had when it came to the location was that it had to be close to a gym, where the boys could pump iron in between scenes so they could look their best for the cameras. “They did their fair share, and I think they also stayed in shape out of vanity even before filming started. But the gym definitely did help when they felt that they needed an extra boost,” Dasmond laughs.

Dasmond is also very grateful for the support from the Singapore swimming community, like national swimmer Tao Li who lent her star power with a cameo. “She was very nice and more than happy to help when she knew that we wanted to do a series on swimming,” he says. “She even offered to link us up with other local swimmers if necessary, which would have been a great idea if we had a bit more time to go deeper into the local swim scene.”

Unsurprisingly, the industrious Dasmond is already thinking about a second season for Victory Lap. “There were a lot of things we wanted to express or share but might not have done well because it was our first time. I want to have a second season because I think [the] swimming [scenes] will be easier to execute now that we have experience. We also want go further with the story as there's a lot more room for us to explore,” he says.

As a parting note, Dasmond also has a message he wants to share with young people, whether or not they have watched the series. “We want you to know that you should always chase after your dreams, no matter how far away you think your goal is, he says.

At the same time, you also need to know that life isn’t perfect and you don’t always get to where you want to be, no matter how hard you fight for it. We want you to dream, but you [should] know how to face reality as well.”

All episodes of Victory Lap are now available for free on meWATCH.

Photos: Dasmond Koh/Instagram, Zong Zijie/Instagram, NoonTalk Media, Mediacorp