Singapore swimmer Amanda Lim targets best Asian Games yet in final bow

STILL CHASING THAT “1 PER CENT”

Nagoya will mark Lim’s fifth appearance at the continental Games, where she has yet to win a medal.

But medals and timings are not the only measures by which she will judge her campaign.

“Even if I don’t swim the best time, or even if I don’t get a medal, I feel like the prep that I had in the past year, I’ve learned so much,” she said.

“I’ve grown so much as a person, and the most important thing is I’m swimming the fastest I’ve ever swum.”

Lim has been a fixture in Singapore swimming for much of the past two decades.

She won six straight SEA Games titles in the 50m freestyle from 2009 to 2019, and has also collected 21 gold medals at the regional Games.

But behind the medals has been a constant search for improvement.

“I thought just by showing up and by doing the work, it will make me a great athlete. And I did become a great athlete,” she said.

“I had to go through all of those experiences that I’ve had in the past to actually be where I’m today, and take the very courageous extra step to step out of my comfort zone and keep finding that 1 per cent on how I can be faster at 33.”

Much of her preparation this year has focused on building strength and power, as well as improving her mobility and body position in the pool.

With the Asian Games approaching, Lim said her focus has shifted to what swimmers call “central nervous system priming” – preparing her body to react explosively in an event decided by fractions of a second.

“In the 50m, when you need to switch on, you need to switch on,” she said.