Ang Peng Siong

Ang Peng Siong (b. 27 October 1962, Singapore - ), a competitive swimmer from 1977 to 1993, was ranked world's No.1 in 1982 when he clocked a time of 22.69s in the 50m freestyle at the US Nationals. That record which he set for the 50m freestyle remains the national record till this day.

Early Life
Ang is the fourth child in a family of five siblings. His father, Ang Teck Bee, a 1964 judo Olympian and former pool supervisor at Farrer Park, introduced his children to sports at an early age. Ang learned swimming from his father at the tender age of five. Ang's father also put him and his siblings under a regime of weight-lifting exercises during his secondary school days. He credited the discipline he learned to his swimming coaches from his Anglo-Chinese School, Wee Moh Nam and Leen Wei Ling, as well as the weight-lifting programme he underwent in the development of his early swimming career.

Competitive Swimming Career
Ang first represented Singapore at the age of 15 at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held at Kuala Lumpur in 1977. He won a silver medal for the 4 X 100m freestyle relay. In 1979, he won his first SEA games gold medal in the 100m freestyle and 4 X 100m relay. The following year, Ang took part in the Hawaiian International Invitational Swimming Championship and was the only non-American swimmer to qualify for the prestigious 50m freestyle sprint final. He was known to make his first international debut in 1978 at the Asian Games at age 16. Ang became the first Singaporean swimmer to be offered an overseas scholarship when he was talent-spotted at the meet. He was offered a full athletics scholarship to study at the University of Houston. Under the tutelage of coach Phil Hansel, Ang improved tremendously and went on to win the first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divison I Gold Medal for the University of Houston in 1983.

In 1982, Ang became the world's fastest 50-metres freestyle swimmer when he clinched the gold medal at the US National Championships in Indianapolis at a time of 22.69s. In recognition of his achievement, he was named the World's Fastest Swimmer for 1982 by Swimming World magazine. In the same year, Ang also won a gold medal for the 100m freestyle at the Asian Games in New Delhi. He bagged the Singapore National Olympic Council's Sportsman of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1984, thereby becoming the first person to win the coveted award for three consecutive years. He has also been inducted into the Singapore Sports Council Sports Museum Hall of Fame. In the course of Ang's swimming career, he has had a couple of near-brushes with Olympic fame. In 1984, he won the 100m freestyle Olympic B finals at a national record time of 51.09s, and in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he missed the A finals by just one place. In 2002, at the age of 40, he took 24.64s to complete the 50-metres freestyle event at the World Masters in Christchurch, 2 seconds off his time twenty years back.

Retirement from swimming
On 11 August 1993, Ang announced his retirement from competitive swimming. At that time, Ang needed to raise $75,000 for his participation in the Asian Games but sponsorship was not forthcoming. Two years later, he founded the Aquatic Performance Swim School at Farrer Park and has since groomed many sports personalities like Leslie Kwok and Mark Chay. He also coaches swimmers from the Singapore Paralympics Team. 

On 24 March 2009, the papers reported that Ang was the national head swimming coach. The search by Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) started in the mid-2004. His jobscope in his four-year contract with the SSA is not only to coordinate and plan the policies, strategies and national objectives for the high performance team but also to organise and lend focus to the national team. He chose to quit his position as managing director of Aquatic Performance Swim School as a result. Ang is the first Singaporean to be appointed to such a high-profile position by the SSA. He has also been the head coach of the Singapore swimming team at various major events such as Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. He was also one of the Board of Governors of the Singapore Sports School. For his portfolio with SSA, he would be assisted by Carol Capitani, the assistant head coach.

Awards
1982, 1983 & 1984 : Sportsman of the Year (Singapore National Olympic Council)
1983 : Public Service Medal (PBM)
1984 : Public Service Medal (BBM)
1987 : IOC Award for Excellence in Sports & Studies



Author
Joshua Chia Yeong Jia



References
Aplin, N., Waters, D., & Leong, M. L. (2005). Singapore's Olympians: The complete who's who 1936-2004 (pp. 167-171). Singapore: SNP Reference.
(Call no.: RSING 796.09225957 APL)

Chan, T. C. (2002, March 26). Master Ang splashes to gold in 50m butterfly. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Factiva database.

Chua, C. J. (1993, June-July). His fire is still burning bright. Man: Life & style, 71-74.
(Call no.: RSING 052 M issue June - Nov 1993)

Ho, S. (1993, August 12). Peng Siong calls it a day at last. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Factiva database.

Ho, S. (1993, August 12). Swimmer's decision to retire is a sad but wise one. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Factiva database.

Koh, T. & [et al.]. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia (p. 32). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN)

Lin, F. W. (2002, July 17). Zou jin shi guang sui dao ti yu bo wu guan shou cang wo guo ti yu de jiao ao. Lianhe Zaobao. Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Factiva database.
 
Low, K. T. (Ed.) (2006). Who's who in Singapore 2006 (pp. 35-36). Singapore: Who's Who Pub.
(Call no.: RSING 920.05957 WHO)

Singapore Book of Records. (2006). Singapore Book of Records (p. 149). Singapore: Singapore Book of Records.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SBR)

Tan, J. (2005, June 26). Where are they now? The Straits Times. Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Factiva database.

Tey, C. W. (2005). The cruising human torpedo: An interview with freestylist Ang Peng Siong. In Achievements off the beaten track: Stories of Singapore sports veterans (pp. 105-125). Singapore: Candid Creation Publishing.
(Call no.: YR SING 796.09225957 ACH) 

Wong, J. (2009, March 24). SSA turns to Ang. Straits Times, Sports. Retrieved May 15, 2009, from Factiva database. 

Wu, S. S. (1990, October). Peng Siong's splashing success. Teens, 26-27.
(Call no.: RSING 170.20223 T issue Dec 1989 - Dec 1990)

APS Swim School. (2002). Ang Peng Siong Biography.  Retrieved April 26, 2006, from www.apsswim.com/angPS.htm 

Singapore Sports Council. (2003). Hall of Fame: Ang Peng Siong.  Retrieved April 26, 2006, from
www.ssc.gov.sg/museum/ssm_heros_profile.jsp?type=6&artid=382&root=28&cat=29 



The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic. 

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies
Recreation>>Sports
Ang Peng Siong, 1962-
Swimmers--Singapore--Biography
Sports, recreation and travel>>Water sports>>Swimming

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