Singapore swimming receives boost with new event additions at Olympics
After the last Olympics, the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) announced its intention to qualify a relay team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The association received a boost last week, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it will add several new events to the Tokyo Games, in athletics, judo, shooting, archery, triathlon and swimming.
News that three new swim events will be introduced - mixed 4x100m medley relay, men's 800m freestyle and women's 1,500m free events - have gone down well at the SSA.
There were six relay events at the 2016 Olympics - 4x100m free, 4x200m free and 4x100m medley for both genders.
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SSA president Lee Kok Choy said: "We welcome the additional events which give our swimmers more opportunities to qualify for the Olympics."
The men's 4x100m medley quartet came closest to qualifying for the Rio Olympics last August when they recorded a time of 3min 38.25sec at the 2015 South-east Asia Games, behind Greece (3:34.41), the slowest qualifiers for Rio.
The last time Singapore fielded a relay quartet was at Atlanta 1996.
On paper, the men's team are shaping up well for Tokyo 2020, with Rio 2016 100m butterfly champion Joseph Schooling and two-time Olympian Quah Zheng Wen already at the world level.
The likes of Darren Lim and Pang Sheng Jun (freestyle) and Lionel Khoo (breaststroke) are also making good progress, and freestyle specialist Danny Yeo is another option if he chooses to carry on beyond next year's Asian Games.
In addition, youngsters such as Glen Lim, Francis Fong, Zachary Ian Tan and Jonathan Tan are waiting in the wings.
In the women's team, seniors such as Quah Ting Wen, Roanne Ho, Amanda Lim will make a decision on their swimming careers after next year's Asiad, while juniors such as Quah Jing Wen, Faith Elizabeth Khoo, Gan Ching Hwee, Christie Chue and Rachel Tseng are promising youngsters.
SSA president Lee said: "The mixed relay provides an additional opportunity to qualify a relay team for the Olympics when we have both good male and female swimmers in the team."
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