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).
