All the different permutations of S'pore's 4x100m Olympic medley relay team explained

By now, you would probably have read about the saga involving Singapore Aquatics (SAQ) and two of Singapore’s best swimmers, Quah Ting Wen and Gan Ching Hwee.

Before we dive in, here's a timeline of events.

The timeline

On Jul. 4, Quah, 31, was sent forms and a contract to sign, which seemingly confirmed her spot on the team.

The next day, Gan, 20, received an invitation from the sport's global governing body, World Aquatics, to swim at the Olympics, under the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), having achieved a timing of 16:10:61 for the 1,500m freestyle event within the qualification period, on Jun. 14, 2024 — a new national record, by the way.

On Jul. 6, news broke that Quah had been replaced in Singapore's swimming contingent by Gan. Quah subsequently appealed the decision.

Quah received an email from Singapore Aquatics on Jul. 7 that her appeal was rejected.

The next day, SAQ's appeal for both Quah and Gan to compete at the Paris Olympics was rejected by the sport's global governing body, World Aquatics.

Phew, thanks for holding your breath.

Wait, how come World Aquatics cannot allow both swimmers to participate? What's the selection policy?

First things first, the team needs to meet the qualification time. And they did.

The original quartet of Letitia Sim, Levenia Sim, Quah Ting Wen and Quah Jing Wen had qualified for the Paris Olympics on Feb. 18 when they finished ninth overall in the heats of the World Aquatics Championships and set a new national record of 4 minutes 2.88 seconds.

Next, meet World Aquatic's requirement of a maximum of two relay-only swimmers on the team. Pay attention because things are about to get a bit acronym-heavy.

The only female swimmer in that original quartet to qualify automatically under the "A" or Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) was Letitia Sim, having achieved a timing of 1:06:36 for the 100m breaststroke, another national record. This meant that Singapore needed three relay-only swimmer spots.

Prior to Gan’s Jul. 5 invite, World Aquatics had made this special exemption to allow Singapore to send three relay-only swimmers to compete in the 4x100m medley relay, instead of the maximum two. According to World Aquatics:

However, after Gan was invited to compete at the Olympics, World Aquatics asked SAQ to either send Gan to the Games, or go with the exceptional invite for three relay-only swimmers. 

World Aquatics' email to SAQ, seen by Mothership, states:

"We appreciate that the situation is difficult. Singapore is not permitted to accept both the additional relay-only athlete and the OCT invitation (Ms. GAN). It must, therefore, choose between the two."

Ultimately, Gan was selected to swim at the Olympics in replacement of Ting Wen after considering “all permutations for the best outcome for the relay team”, SAQ said.

Could this have been handled better?

Looking at World Aquatics' timeline, SAQ probably has an overview of what's going to happen. Probably.

According to Quah, the original quartet were "told by the coaches the importance of qualifying a relay for Team Singapore". While Quah didn't qualify individually, she did help the team qualify. Plus, she got a written invite from SAQ to compete.

Some burning questions that we have:

1. Did SAQ contemplate the possibility that Singapore could get a reallocated unused OCT athletes' invitation on Jul. 5?
2. In its statement and timeline of events, why did SAQ emphasise that "Gan accepted the invitation," when World Aquatics stated that sending Gan or three relay-only swimmers was a decision that "Singapore" had to make?
3. SAQ referred back to its selection criteria, saying it was "in place since June 2023", to explain that priority should be given to OCT swimmers. Is SAQ's selection criteria clear enough on this point?

That said, SAQ was given a tight timeline by World Aquatics, and having a third relay-only swimmer was an exceptional case.

So what are the permutations?

Now that the die is cast, and putting aside all the gobbledygook, I try to put on my logic cap to think through the possible outcomes.

Option 1: Send Letitia Sim, Levenia Sim, Quah Jing Wen and Quah Ting Wen. Drop Gan Ching Hwee.

Outcome:

Option 1 preserves the good team dynamics of two pairs of sisters, who had trained and qualified together for the medley relay.

This team has specialisations in all four strokes. Furthermore, Quah specialises in the 100m freestyle,  having won five consecutive SEA Games gold medals at the individual event, while Gan is probably a longer-distance freestyle swimmer.

However, Gan misses out on the international exposure of her Olympics debut as a young Singaporean athlete, despite having been offered an OCT invite based on her own merit.

Singapore also loses its chance to compete two individual swim events — 800m and 1,500m freestyle.

Option 2: Send Letitia Sim, Levenia Sim, Quah Jing Wen, Gan Ching Hwee. Drop Quah Ting Wen.

Outcome:

With Option 2 — SAQ's preferred option — Gan gets to swim at the Olympics with an invite from World Aquatics. Another young athlete gets international exposure, which can be beneficial for future games.

Singapore gets represented at two additional individual swim events — the 1,500m freestyle event where Gan earned her invitation, and the 800m freestyle event which she will be allowed her to participate in as well.

This permutation also means all four younger athletes, aged 18 to 23, get to have their Olympic debut. In contrast, Paris would have been Quah's fourth Olympics.

However, the new teammates need to work on team dynamics with less than a month left before the medley relay.

Also, Gan's best performances are in long-distance freestyle races, and the 100m relay event may not be her strength. (That said, she has had experiences with shorter-distance races. She also bagged four gold medals for freestyle events at the 2023 SEA Games, including the 200m event.)

Option 3: Send Letitia Sim, Levenia Sim, Quah Ting Wen, Gan Ching Hwee. Drop Quah Jing Wen.

Outcome:

For Option 3 (similar to Option 2), Gan gets to swim at the Olympics with an invite from World Aquatics. Another young athlete gets international exposure, which can be beneficial for future games.

Singapore gets represented at two additional individual swim events — the 1,500m freestyle event where Gan earned her invitation, and the 800m freestyle event which she will be allowed her to participate in as well.

However, the new teammates need to work on team dynamics with less than a month left before the medley relay. This could be more significant than in Option 2, however, as Option 3 involves dropping Jing Wen — perhaps the best butterfly swimmer out of the five swimmers.

That being said, Ting Wen could swim the 100m butterfly for the medley too. At the 2023 SEA Games, Ting Wen won a Silver for the 100m butterfly, having finished the race less than a second after Jing Wen, who took the gold. Ting Wen has the national record for 50m butterfly while Jing Wen has the national record for 200m butterfly.

Option 3 also means that a young athlete misses out on gaining experience at the Olympics. Jing Wen's Olympic debut would be delayed till the next Games, where she will be 27.

Option 4: Send Letitia Sim, Quah Jing Wen, Qing Ting Wen and Gan Ching Hwee. Drop Levenia Sim.

Outcome:

Option 4 is quite similar to Option 3, with one further complication: Levenia is perhaps the best backstroke swimmer out of the five. This combination means the team will lose the best backstroke swimmer for the relay.

Option 4 also means that a young athlete misses out on gaining experience at the Olympics. Levenia's Olympic debut would be delayed till the next Games, where she will be 22.

Option 5?

What about dropping Letitia? That's a no brainer. Having achieved the "A" or Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) for the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:06.36 at the 2023 Japan Open, Letitia's ticket to Olympics is guaranteed.

Top image via Team Singapore