National swimmer Ong calls it a day

Russell Ong, a final-year business student at SMU and one of Singapore’s most experienced national swimmers, has announced his retirement from the sport on Facebook. He did not manage to qualify for the South-east Asian (SEA) Games this year, as he came in second in the final at the Singapura Finance Singapore National Age-Group Swimming Championships on March 19, missing the qualifying mark of 23.41. In his Facebook post, Ong thanked his team-mates and coaches for their support, and said: “With support from my parents, I have had a beautiful 11-year career as a national swimmer, and am walking away with that cap, together with nine SEA Games medals in the bag.” He will serve out his role as chairman of the Singapore Swimming Association’s Athletes Commission.