Quah Ting Wen out of Paris Olympics after world body rejects appeal by S’pore Aquatics

Quah Ting Wen not competing at Paris Olympics despite qualifying for women’s relay in February

National swimmer Quan Ting Wen, who was part of the women’s swimming relay team from Singapore that qualified for the Paris Olympics, will not be participating in the event after all.

This comes after World Aquatics (AQUA) rejected the appeal of Singapore Aquatics (SAQ) for her to go to Paris.

S’pore will send 5 swimmers to Olympics

In a press statement on Monday (8 July), SAQ said Singapore will send five swimmers to compete in the Paris Olympics aquatics programme:

1. Jonathan Tan, 22 (men’s 50m & 100m freestyle)
2. Letitia Sim, 21 (women’s 100m & 200m breaststroke)
3. Gan Ching Hwee, 20 (women’s 800m & 1,500m freestyle)
4. Levenia Sim, 18 (women’s 4x100m medley relay)
5. Quah Jing Wen, 23 (women’s 4x100m medley relay)

The confirmation of these slots allotted to Singapore was made after AQUA, the world governing body for aquatics, finalised its list of participants for Olympics.

With this finalisation, Singapore will now compete in seven aquatics events.

Quah Ting Wen supposedly qualified for Olympics in Feb

A notable absentee is Quah Ting Wen, who was one of four swimmers who competed in the Women’s 4x100m medley event at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February.

The quartet made history by becoming the first Singaporeans to qualify for a women’s relay at the Olympics.

They also set a new national record for the event.

While at the time it was said that the two pairs of sisters were set to go to Paris, now only three of them will do so.

SAQ explains why Quan Ting Wen was left out

Selection of individual athletes for the Olympics is first based on swimmers who have made the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), SAQ explained. This is known as the “A” cut.

Secondarily, it’s based on those who met the Olympics Consideration Time (OCT) and received an invitation from AQUA to compete at the Olympics, SAQ said. This is known as the “B” cut.

Though the four swimmers who swam in Doha met the Olympic qualifying position, they needed to meet the AQUA requirement of having a maximum of only two relay-only swimmers.

Of the quartet, only Letitia had met the “A” cut, meaning Singapore had three relay-only swimmers.

There is no “A” cut route for relay qualification, unlike for individual events.

Gan accepted ‘B’ cut invitation

There was still hope, though, as on 3 July AQUA gave Singapore an extra relay-only slot on an “exceptional basis”.

However, Gan accepted AQUA’s “B” cut invitation to compete at the Olympics on 5 July. This invalidated AQUA’s extra relay-only slot.

SAQ’s Selection Committee thus had Letitia, Gan, and only two more relay-only swimmers for the women’s relay. It decided on Levenia and Jing Wen.

Quan Ting Wen made an appeal

When the SAQ’s decision was released, Ting Wen made an appeal, but an SAQ Appeals Committee decided to uphold the decision.

At the same time, SAQ had appealed to AQUA to give it one extra relay-only slot.

Sadly, AQUA said on 8 July that the appeal was unsuccessful.

SAQ president Mark Chay said it would have been “ideal” if Singapore could send six athletes to the Olympics, adding:

But that was not to be and we will have to respect the decision. We will still compete in seven events despite the unsuccessful appeal and we urge everyone to get behind our team of five who, I have no doubt, will do us proud.

Ting Wen was ‘confused & frustrated’

Quah, 31, told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that she was “confused and frustrated” when she found out she was not on the list on Saturday (7 July).

This was made worse as just days before, she had previously signed documents by SAQ and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) that confirmed that she was going to Paris for the Olympics.

It would have been her fourth time competing at the event.

Mr Chay said SAQ appreciated Ting Wen’s “dedication and commitment” to the Olympic campaign but it was “unfortunate” that the team was “one individual OQT shy” of earning direct entry.

He added:

We understand her disappointment and empathise with her. We look forward to Ting Wen being an important part of our 2025 plans when we host the World Aquatics Championships and compete in the SEA Games.

Also read: ‘Angry, Disappointed, Heartbroken’: Quah Ting Wen Apologises For Relay Disqualification, Jumped 0.1s Early

‘Angry, Disappointed, Heartbroken’: Quah Ting Wen Apologises For Relay Disqualification, Jumped 0.1s Early

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Featured image adapted from Singapore Aquatics on Facebook and @quahtingwen on Instagram.