This afternoon (Aug. 27, 2016), an anonymous Singapore national swimmer participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit for users to ask him anything about swimming at the national level.

The anonymous swimmer posted a picture of his 17th Asian Games badge (minus his face and name) to the thread moderators as proof of his identity as a national swimmer.

The answers to the AMA were not very in-depth (our mystery guy is rather reticent), nor were they particularly illuminating of the life of a national swimmer -- which kind of defeated the purppse of the AMA where things can go full-tilt towards full-disclosure because of the safety of anonymity and the lack of identifying traits.

However, the answers do provide a little glimpse into the life behind the frantic chase for medal gold.

Here are some of the questions and answers about national swimming you can find on the thread:

1. National Service and sports competition

Arguably one of the more common question posed to national swimmers now that Schooling has achieved a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics. Seems like our mystery swimmer is just like any other athlete with a desire to compete on the biggest world stage at the Olympics. He also slickly avoided the question on whether the relevant authorities in Singapore provide adequate support for athletes.

2. What kind of training

As one can imagine, being a competitive swimmer is not the work of the swimmer and coach alone. Behind them are an army of personnel who maintain the athlete's physical and mental well-being. Being young also means having to juggle school and training.

3. How old and what goal

Unsurprisingly, our anonymous swimmer started swimming at a young age (Schooling himself had been winning swimming medals since the age of 5). According to another entry in the thread, he also had to change schools to pursue this swimming route.

Also not very surprising is the fact that he spends a significant amount of time training daily, around 25 hours each week, which leaves him with very little time for anything else.

4. National Service question again

And of course the multi-million dollar question: NS. Our faceless swimmer has already been called up for National Service. Guess only gold medalists don't need to chiong in Tekong.

5. Is there life after swimming?

Future-wise, of course swimmers can't be expected to swim until they're 80. Seems like most swimmers take the conventional routes of study and work.

6. Type of favoured food

And last of all: Do all swimmers like carrot cake?

Our anonymous swimmer had take a break but might return to answer more questions. Click here to browse the thread.

Top photo adapted from Singapore Swimming Association

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