Paris bound Olympian Quah Jing Wen shares about how she started posting about her fashion tips on TikTok, what her most memorable moments have been representing Singapore on the biggest stage, and the secrets of her hydration regime
Having qualified for her first Olympics at the World Championships in the Medley Relay, Quah Jing Wen is the youngest of three siblings in a swimming family that is synonymous with sporting excellence and the Olympics.
Our SportPlus.sg team sat down with her behind the scenes at a recent shoot to find out what some of the most defining moments of her young career are, why she likes fashion so much, and the secrets of her hydration regime.
What made you start your "Get Ready with Me" series on TikTok?
Jing Wen: A lot of my content was gym and swimming and that kind of thing doesn't really interest me, I know it interests the general public, and like to see what I do in my daily life but because I do it like every day it's kind of boring to me and something that I don't do or get to do a lot is dress up.
So one day I was just like I'm not sure what to wear and I always just love filming myself, and talking to myself and so I think it just came naturally. And I just have an affinity to fashion and trying out different styles and I do like editing those.
What has been your most memorable moment representing Singapore?
Jing Wen: I feel like this question is always asked a lot, and I can't really think of one particularly. I think a lot of people would assume it would be making the Olympics this year for the Medley Relay at the World Championships but when you ask that question I would always think about my first race at the SEA Games. It was 2015, I was swimming in the 400 Individual Medley, an event I don't swim anymore.
I kind of went into the final not really expecting anything, I was in lane seven I think. It was right in this pool actually, and I don't know. I think that having no expectations and then turning that 100m breaststroke into the 100m freestyle and kind of seeing that I was like still in the mix of the race, it was exciting and touching and seeing that I finished third to make it to the podium it was such an incredible feeling.
And that's almost a decade ago and I still remember it. And that's really the reason why I still swim, and why I swim in the first place.
How important are Vitamins B3, B6, B12 and carbohydrates when fuelling your body?
Jing Wen: To me I think it really is like a 50-50 balance, like your training can be at 100 per cent, and if your fueling is not 100 per cent, it's really not going to make any sense for performance.
So I do think it's really very important to fuel while I'm practising, as well as before and after and it helps that 100PLUS Active tastes so good because I'm not a drinker during training, like I always feel very bloated but like sips in between the sets every now and then always help.
How important is hydration for swimmers?
Jing Wen: Swimming indoors and having a pretty cold pool like swimmers don't realise how much fluid they're losing and they're actually sweating in the water and like I said I was a pretty bad drinker when I was in college, and before that too I would like not drink at all during the two hours that we were swimming.
So I do think it's very important to drink every now and then even if it's a sip, that's why like the electrolytes are so important right in the 100PLUS. It hydrates you more than just a sip of water, so definitely something that I think everyone should do while they're training.
Comments