'It's just passion': 40 years after Ang Peng Siong’s Olympics debut, his brother fulfils his own Games dream

PARIS: As a promising swimmer for Singapore, Ang Peng Wee always dreamed of representing the nation.

One of the fastest in the country in his pet events - 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly - he had won various international competitions during his time.

"I swam the same events as Peng Siong," Peng Wee told CNA. "When he was not around (and was in the United States), I was considered the fastest at one point."

Just like his older brother Peng Siong, Peng Wee, 60, was coached by his father Ang Teck Bee. The senior Ang was a pool supervisor who had participated in judo at the 1964 Olympics.

Back then, Peng Siong was offered a full scholarship to study at the University of Houston. Peng Wee himself came close to securing his own overseas spot in the University of Hawaii, but for issues with paperwork.

"We would race against each other, but no jealousy ... no conflicts. After all, we are Ang(s)," he said.

However, national service disrupted his "training intensity", he said. And as he started to focus on building his career, Peng Wee retired from the sport about the the age of 22, with an Olympic dream unfulfilled.

But the swimmer was never too far removed from Peng Wee.

After his national service, he had the chance to reprise his role, this time for a television audience in a Singaporean drama series called The Flying Fish.

"They wanted to do something about swimming because swimming was quite a popular sport. The Hong Kong producer came to Singapore and ... he got my father, myself and my nephew to be one of the actors," recalled Peng Wee.

"I did the stunts for them and I also did the acting for it ... So if you see a guy diving at the introduction, (doing the butterfly) and all those turns, I did those swims."

A year after the drama