Swimming Royalty Quah Ting Wen And Quah Zheng Wen On Their Third Act
The Quahs are one of Singapore's most storied names in sports history. As dusk approaches on their respective swimming careers, Ting Wen and Zheng Wen reflect on the next stage.
Memento mori. It is a latin phrase meaning “remember you must die”. A clarion call to act and cherish those fleeting moments in your life. The Quah siblings know the end of their first act is near. No, they’re not dying, but they can hear the fat lady clearing her throat, ready to belt out the first note on their storied swimming careers.
“I’m experiencing every moment now with more clarity. In many ways, I’m forcing myself to remember them now that I’m closer to the end. When I was younger, I took things for granted. But you know how you cherish something more when you realise you’re going to lose it? That’s me,” says Ting Wen, 31, and the older of the two.
It’s serendipitous that she clocked her best performance in the latest edition of the South-east Asian (SEA) Games. The two-time Olympian brought home six golds and two silvers, and was crowned best athlete. Ting Wen credits the record-breaking haul to her attitude. “I wanted to do well. But I also told myself, ‘Let’s have some fun’.”
A younger Ting Wen would have berated herself for not working hard enough. The present version was intent on fully embracing the experience. From the good to the bad, including multiple power outages one night and the incredibly hard bed, she has etched every moment into her memory.
However, she doesn’t rank her eight medals as her most memorable achievement. Instead, she will always remember the 2023 SEA Games as the first time she teamed up with her siblings Zheng Wen and Jing Wen in the same event, the 4 x 100m medley relay. Naturally, together with a fourth swimmer Nicholas Mahabir, they placed first.
The podium is a culmination of a shared family journey that began over two decades ago. Ting Wen first learned to swim at age 8 at Queenstown Swimming Complex. Her coach taught her the four main swim strokes—freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly—and she quickly mastered them. A couple of years later, Zheng Wen joined her in the pool by chance. As she went through her drills in the water, a mischievous Zheng Wen sat by himself and watched the waves. It didn’t take him long to jump in.
They were extremely fortunate to have supportive parents. Their mother quit her job to care for them full-time. She was her children’s chauffeur, supporter, counsellor, mother, and everything else they needed. Dad, too, was always available to help after work so they could concentrate on swimming.
Both excelled in the local meets and regularly placed on the podium. Ting Wen, however, only realised her talent and potential when she joined the national team. Zheng Wen’s illumination came much later, specifically during his first international competition, the 2011 SEA Games.
Just 15 at the time, he had no expectations beyond banking in terms of competitive experience.
But it is critical to understand the history of that particular event to fully understand its significance to Zheng Wen’s development. Just one year earlier, in 2010, Filipino swimming behemoth Miguel Molina had announced his retirement. Regular bridesmaid and Indonesian athlete Akbar Nasution thought this was his chance to shine in Zheng Wen’s pet event, the 400m individual medley
Of course, everyone was surprised when Zheng Wen’s head popped out of the water first after the turn in the final 100 metres, ahead of the rest of the pack. Even he was shocked. “I was just a kid in the outer lane. I didn’t even know what I was doing! But when I saw I was ahead, I just gave it my best shot. As I tell you this, I am getting goosebumps remembering that race.”
He touched the wall first, ahead of everyone else.
Zheng Wen had arrived on the international stage.
Ting Wen is wearing a Serpenti Viper necklace in rose gold with pavé diamonds, Serpenti rose gold tubogas earrings with pave diamonds, B.Zero1 rock two-band ring in rose gold with pave diamonds, Serpenti Viper rose gold band ring with carnelian and pave diamonds, and Serpenti Viper bracelet in rose gold with carnelian, all from Bulgari.
GRINDING IN THE DARK
Everyone sees the glory, the glistening gold adorning their necks as their arms rise in victory. There is no one to witness the hard work behind the scenes, to hear the alarm ringing raucously at 4.45am, or to feel the rasping cold of the water on their skin.
But it wasn’t just about the physical aspects. The transition from student athlete to professional swimmer was a massive challenge for Ting Wen and Zheng Wen. “Towards the end of university in 2014, I had to decide whether I wanted to continue with swimming or retire,” she tells us. “Many of my classmates who competed chose to retire. I returned to Singapore with the aim of swimming in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”
Without the flurry of classes and coursework, she suddenly felt a gaping hole in her life between 10am and 4pm each day. Previously, she would fill this period with school, but graduation meant she only needed to focus on training. As she saw her friends getting jobs and getting excited about the next stage of their lives, she wondered if being a professional athlete was right for her.
So, she found an administrative role at Singapore’s sporting institute to occupy her time in between training sessions.
Ting Wen, of course, does nothing in halves. She threw herself into the menial role with the same gusto she displayed during training sessions. But her candle was soon burning at both ends. After eight months, she realised she couldn’t do it anymore.
“I contemplated retiring after the Rio 2016 Olympics anyway. I thought I would commit to the life of a professional athlete for a year and then find a job.”
The Olympic Games came and went, and Ting Wen’s alarm clock kept ringing at 4.45am for training—and she continued plunging into that cold swimming pool. She couldn’t walk away. “It was the safe option. I was good at it and I had done it for so long, so it was easy.”
But as her friends’ lifestyles crept upwards, thanks to increased spending power, she felt a tinge of regret.
The four-year stretch between 2017 and 2021 was also a trying period. Zheng Wen and her younger sister, Jing Wen, were overseas for university, so Ting Wen went to training alone every day after being accustomed to their company.
Time and maturity, however, have changed and expanded her perspective. The avid diarist is now proud to call herself a professional athlete. The public’s increased support for its sporting heroes, thanks to Joseph Schooling’s Olympic heroics, have also helped.
Ting Wen is helping her brother through a similar journey. “Returning to Singapore after several years away was difficult,” says Zheng Wen, now 27. “When I was in the US, everyone on the collegiate swimming team had the same goal. We worked together. It’s impossible to replicate this environment anywhere else in the world. I made many friends, too, so being away from them and no longer being part of a structured system was an enormous challenge.”
Also, the pandemic wasn’t helpful. Zheng Wen and his coach had tailored his training programme so he would be at his best for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Covid-19 shattered those plans. He was no longer as sharp by the time the torch was lit in 2021, signalling the start of the long-delayed Games.
Like Ting Wen, he now views those two years in a different light. “It allowed me to spend more time with my friends and family, and take my first proper extended break in decades.”
Professional swimming has no downtime. Swimmers who spend a long time away from the pool report that they no longer “feel the water” when they come back. This sensation takes several weeks to return. Their competitors would have progressed in leaps and bounds during that time.
Zheng Wen detested that and falling behind. Being a machine—“eat, train, and sleep”—gave him purpose. Failure was not an option.
However, he’s a lot better with failing now. “It sucked a lot more in the past, but I’ve realised that there’s so much more to life outside of swimming. I still care, of course, but the sport isn’t the defining be-all and end-all that it used to be for me.”
It also helps that criticism slides off him like Teflon. Singapore is a harsh mistress and its people, the greatest critics. One only needs to look at how Schooling was treated post-Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Many insults and brickbats came at him from all quarters after he failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, the event that he won gold in.
“Nothing can take away Schooling’s achievement. I think it’s unfair that everyone keeps harping on his failures. He isn’t obligated to anything or anyone. He can retire if he wants to,” bristles Zheng Wen.
He’s mildly annoyed that the topic keeps coming up. “The media just wants his name in the headlines. I understand the reasons, but I wish we could just support and focus on the people we are sending for competitions.”
LIFE OUTSIDE THE SWIMMING POOL
The siblings are now at the tail end of their careers and are comfortable in their roles
as ambassadors and elder statesmen of Singapore swimming.
Ting Wen, who majored in communication studies and film at the University College of
Los Angeles, is flirting with the idea of returning to school for a master’s degree in counselling. This interest emerged by accident when the younger swimmers in the national team approached her for advice. Many would have waved them away. But Ting Wen listened to them and helped to resolve their issues. “I’ve always had a creative side that I wanted to explore,” she says.
Zheng Wen attended medical school at the University of California, Berkeley, but admits he has no passion for medicine. He is exploring his options. There is nothing off limits. He has even considered starting his own business. The Paris Olympics in 2024 is his primary focus at the moment, however. In the pool beside him are his sisters. Together, they’re ushering the fat lady off the stage and telling her it’s not her turn yet. There is still work to be
done.
Ever heard three alarm clocks go off at 4.45am? It sounds like success.
Photography Stefan Khoo
Styling Chia Wei Choong
Hair Sean Ang, using Schwarzkopf Professional
Makeup Clarence Lee, using Tarte Cosmetics
Photography Assistant Alif
Styling Assistants Caleb Lim & Julia Mae Wong
Watches and Jewellery Bulgari
