Singapore's Gan Ching Hwee finishes seventh in 1,500m freestyle final at World Aquatics Champs

SINGAPORE: With cheering dignitaries in the stands and swimming royalty in the pool alongside her, Singapore's Gan Ching Hwee notched a creditable seventh-placed finish in the women's 1,500m freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday (Jul 29).

At the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Kallang, Gan clocked a time of 16:03.51. 

Legendary American swimmer Katie Ledecky won gold (15:26:44), Italy's Simona Quadarella the silver (15:31.79) and Australia's Lani Pallister the bronze (15:41.18).

"Definitely overall happy. This was a bonus race if anything, and I really wanted to just do my best," said Gan. 

"I should be really happy regardless of the outcome because I really gave my 101 per cent since day one of this competition. Definitely carrying some fatigue across, but that's part and parcel of racing."

Gan is the only Singapore swimmer to have made a final in this edition of the Championships. She is also the first Singaporean female swimmer to qualify for a final at the meet since Tao Li placed seventh in the 50m butterfly in 2007.

The last Singaporean to progress to a Championships final was Teong Tzen Wei, who finished eighth in the 50m butterfly at the 2022 edition.

"Sometimes things don't always go perfectly – like even tonight's race; I don't think it was anywhere near perfect – but it's always a learning journey, and that's sports," said Gan.

Among those in attendance at the race were President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry.

Ledecky looked in fine form from start to finish, threatening to set a new world record for most of the race.

She eventually registered the fifth-fastest time in history, with the four fastest times also belonging to the