Singaporean national swimmer Gan Ching Hwee has broken a long-standing national record in the women’s 400m freestyle, surpassing a mark that had stood for nearly 16 years.
The previous record of 4:11.24 was set by Lynette Lim at the 2009 SEA Games.
Competing at the World Aquatics Championship Singapore 2025, Gan clocked an impressive 4:09.81.
She finished first in her heat and placed 13th overall, while the United States’ Katie Ledecky topped the four heats with a time of 4:01.04.
“I was very pleasantly surprised that I went below my best time by that much,” Gan told reporters.
“Past a certain age, my best times have only been incrementally getting better.
Especially the 400m, which has been quite a challenging event for me. I don’t think I’ve made a massive breakthrough in the past few years.”
This is not the first time Gan has rewritten the record books.
During her Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games, she broke national records in both the 800m and 1,500m freestyle events.
In the 800m freestyle, Gan set a new national mark of 8:32.37, finishing seventh in her heat.
She followed that with another record in the 1,500m freestyle, winning her heat in 16:10.13, although she narrowly missed out on the finals by one place.
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