Singapore swimmer believes special Hong Kong relationship can fuel national record bid

Singaporean swimmer Amanda Lim Xiang Qi said a long and healthy relationship with the Hong Kong team could push her to break a national record on Saturday. Lim will compete at the Hong Kong Open Swimming Championships at Victoria Park this weekend, and has her city’s 50-metre freestyle record in her sights. The 31-year-old has been training in Hong Kong for the past two weeks training for the race, while also helping her counterparts prepare for the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays at the Paris Olympics. “One of the reasons I chose to train here in Hong Kong for this period of time is because the Hong Kong relay team is at my speed, we are kind of all doing the same times,” Lim said. “Being surrounded by people who are similar to you, I believe that will bring me to even greater heights. “During the past week of training here, I’ve been swimming really well. The times during training are giving me the confidence that I can do it.” Last month, Lim swam the 50m at the 19th Singapore Championships in 24.94, 0.12 seconds off the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT) and 0.02 away from the Singaporean record, set by Quah Ting Wen. Missing out on the Games by seconds was made more painful by the fact that a week before the race she dropped a 10kg weight on her foot and fractured a toe. But Lim dusted herself down and will attempt to break the Singaporean record in Victoria Park on Saturday, before heading to Canada for the Speedo Canadian Swimming Championships. Next year, she will compete on home turf at the World Aquatics Championships. “There are a lot of what ifs, but what is going through my mind is that if I had started this type of training earlier, where would I be right now?” she said, referring to her decision to join Hong Kong Olympian Stephanie Au Hoi-shun in training in Brisbane – a move she said made her personal bests fall like dominoes. “In December, I kind of hit a pretty low point in my swimming career and I just wanted a change in environment and a change in my training programme,” Lim said. “Stephanie came to Singapore to train with me last year and [when she went back] I was just talking to her and said, ‘You know what, I’m coming to Australia.’ Within a week my flights and everything were booked. “Honestly it was one of the best times in my life, and it showed in my swimming results, too. At 30 years old, I was doing personal best swims, I hadn’t been doing PBs for like 10 years.” The Hong Kong Olympic swim team and Lim have been trying to recreate that feel-good factor at the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) in Fo Tan ahead of the Paris Olympics. David Lush, who coached three-time Olympic gold medallist Emily Seebohm before taking Au and Lim under his wing in Australia, spent a week with the relay team at the HKSI. But for Lim, the friendship she has built with Hong Kong’s swimmers has been a benefit to both sides. “I have trained with Australian coaches before, and I think I work better with the Australian programme. And of course, like being around friends who are actually going towards the same goal really helps,” she said. “We’ve known each other for a long time, specifically Stephanie and Camille [Cheng Lily-mei]. We started racing together when we were like 15 or 16 years old at the Asian Youth Games. “Back then, social media wasn’t such a big thing, so when we went to competitions we would hang out and catch up, I think that brought us together.” Cheng will also compete this weekend, alongside teammates Tam Hoi-lam, Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung and Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet. However, Au, who announced she had swam her final race in Hong Kong last month, will not be in the pool. “It has been a very special two weeks in Hong Kong because everyone is coming back from [training and meets in] Europe and preparing for Paris,” Lim said. “Just yesterday when we finished our training session and we were walking back to the rooms we were just saying how nice it is, we are all so happy because we are training with actual friends, not just teammates. “I feel pretty loved by the team and I feel very supported. And I think that is the very main reason why my swimming is faster.”

Singapore swimmer believes special Hong Kong relationship can fuel national record bid

Amanda Lim has her city’s 50-metre freestyle record in her sights at the Hong Kong Open Swimming Championships