Swimmer Gan Ching Hwee set to replace Quah Ting Wen at 2024 Paris Olympics

SINGAPORE: Swimmer Gan Ching Hwee is set to replace Quah Ting Wen in the women’s 4x100m medley relay at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Quah’s name was missing from the 22-athlete list at the Team Singapore flag presentation ceremony on Saturday (Jul 6), while Gan’s name was included.

World swimming governing body FINA had offered Gan an invitation to participate in the women’s 1,500m event based on her Olympic consideration time – or Olympic “B” cut – of 16:10.61 clocked earlier this month.

Swimmers automatically qualify for the Games if they meet the Olympic qualifying time, or “A” cut, and may be invited to compete if they meet the “B” cut.

FINA had previously granted Singapore an exemption to allow three relay-only swimmers to compete instead of the maximum of two.

For the Singapore team, only Letitia Sim had met the Olympic qualifying time in the 100m breaststroke.

FINA offered Singapore Aquatics the choice between sending to Paris Quah or Gan, who is also entitled to compete in up to two individual events. 

Quah has appealed the decision and declined to comment. CNA has contacted Singapore Aquatics for comment.

The Singapore women’s 4x100m medley team set a new national record en route to qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

Earlier this year, Quah, her sister Quah Jing Wen, Letitia Sim and Levenia Sim clocked a time of 4m 2.88s to eclipsed the previous national record (4m 6.97s) set by the Quah sisters, Letitia Sim and Faith Khoo.

Unlike the individual events, there are no Olympic “A” cut times for relay qualification for the Games.

The top 3 teams at last year’s World Aquatics Championships made the cut for Paris, while the next 13 countries with the next fastest times from both this year’s and last year’s World Aquatics Championships also qualify.