Gan Ching Hwee celebrates after clinching the women's 400m freestyle silver in a national record of 4min 6.81sec. Photo: SpexSG/ Andy Chua
Gan Ching Hwee clinched Singapore’s second swimming medal of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after placing second in the women’s 400m freestyle on Sep 22. She did so in a national record of 4min 6.81sec, just two months after her 4:09.34 effort at the Commonwealth Games.
China’s Li Bingjie took gold in 4:02.71, while Ichiko Kajimoto of Japan was third in 4:07.45. Singaporean Victoria Lim, who clocked a personal best of 4:20.51 during the morning heats, was 10th in 4:23.40.
Gan, 23, has now won two medals in as many events after also taking silver in the women’s 1500m freestyle in national record time at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on 20 Sep.
She will return to the pool on 24 Sep for the women’s 800m freestyle and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
Gan’s achievement marks the second swimming national record of the day. Earlier in the day, teammate Russel Pang lowered his own national mark in the men’s 1500m freestyle with a 15:22.16 effort in the timed final.
The 16-year-old, who placed 10th in the event, said: “It feels great to know that all the work that I’ve put in for the last few months leading up to the Asian Games have paid off and it’s really fruitful.
“We went to Kunming for a training camp for 28 days. I was definitely hoping to go below the 15:20 mark but nonetheless I’m pretty happy with the time.”
Reagan Cheng, Chan Junhao, Brandon Yap and Jonathan Tan were seventh in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in 3:40.63.
Swimming continues on 23 Sep at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
The 20th Asian Games are held in Japan from 19 September to 4 October 2026. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.