Singapore's swimmers aim to improve personal bests as they gun for World Aquatics Championships
The 22nd edition of the Championships will begin this Friday (Jul 11) and run till Aug 3.
For some national swimmers like Chan Junhao, it will also mark the start of their push to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
A RISING STAR
The United States-based athlete said he is confident of rising to the challenge as he prepares to make his World Aquatics Championships debut in Singapore.
The 21-year-old told CNA: 'This is my first big meet and having it being at home is a really big deal for me. I'm excited to swim in front of my home crowd, and it's in front of my family and in front of my friends.'
Beyond the thrill of rubbing shoulders with the world's best swimmers, the current Singapore 50m breaststroke record holder added that competing with them is the first step in his long-term ambition.
"It's going to be a busy Olympic cycle. We have (the) SEA Games at the end of the year. We have (the) Commonwealth and Asian Games coming up next year. And more importantly for me, is the LA Olympics in 2028,' said Chan.
He added that he would be happy with achieving a personal best timing or being able to progress through the preliminary rounds of the meet.
'We're definitely ramping up our training a lot - a little bit more on the technical stuff, my coordination and also a good mix of strength and power, and being able to transfer that into the water,' he said.
Chan, who is currently a student athlete at the University of Southern California, is part of Singapore's 16-strong swim team and will race in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
Swimmers will compete in a new 4,800 capacity arena that was constructed next to the Leisure Park Kallang mall.
Singapore was picked as the host after the biennial event was relocated from the Russian city of Kazan in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Event organisers are expecting around 40,000 international visitors to attend the event and are projecting tourism revenue to hit S$60 million (US$47 million).
Singapore will send its largest contingent to the competition this year, with a total of 72 athletes across five disciplines.
The Championships features the six sports: swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving.
GAME PLAN FOR COMPETITION
National swimming body Singapore Aquatics has a game plan for its athletes as crunch time comes.
Gustavo Schirru, Singapore Aquatics' National Training Centre co-lead coach (swimming), said he wants the team to take things one step at a time during the competition.
He added he expects the competition to be strong this year.
'We (expect) world records to be broken here, but all countries are trying to get this, and we're going to be in the mix,' he said.
Schirru noted that the World Aquatic Championships will also provide Singapore's swimmers a chance to learn and improve on their performance.
This is important with other major tournaments on the horizon for the national team, like December's SEA Games and the Asian Games next year, he added.
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