Jonathan Chan is the first Singaporean diver to qualify for the Olympics in the nation’s history.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION
National diver Jonathan Chan may be perched high above on the diving platform, but he remains a down-to-earth Singapore boy at heart.
As the nation’s first diver to qualify for the Olympic Games, which will take place in Tokyo next year, the 23-year-old athlete trains hard. But when cheat day comes around, he indulges in hawker food, including his favourites — chicken rice and prawn noodles.
He also peppers his speech with “lahs” and, like most Singaporeans, is unable to resist getting a bargain on sale.
While he is naturally proud to be representing the nation in diving, he actually started his sporting career in gymnastics when he was five. His older sister was a gymnast and he followed in her footsteps until he was 13.
Growing up, his sporting hero was local gymnast Hoe Wah Toon, who had impressed him with how he’d juggled school and sports, and even managed to take home medals at the Commonwealth Games.
A former gymnast, Chan only discovered diving 10 years ago at the age of 13.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION
Taking the plunge
It was only in 2010 that Chan accidentally stumbled upon the world of competitive diving — a decision that was also led by his sister, who is a former national diver.
“The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was held in Singapore that year and they were looking for people to compete in diving. There was only a year to prepare for the event, so they scouted for gymnasts who were interested to switch to diving. My sister was one of them and that’s how I was introduced to the sport. What drew me to diving was the fun factor and the adrenaline rush,” he recalls.
Beginning with local and regional competitions in Malaysia, Thailand and Macau, Chan soon made great leaps in his newfound passion and entered his first major competitions — the 2013 Asian Youth Games, 2014 YOG and 2015 SEA Games, where he competed for the first time in front of a hugely supportive home crowd.
Chan looks set to make waves at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION
Patience pays off
When Chan first started diving, he admitted that he’d never even considered going to the Olympics. “Looking at international competitors, it never occurred to me that I would reach the same standards in the future. It was only when I started slowly improving over the years that I could finally see the Olympics being within my reach,” he says.
But in keeping with his personal motto — “If you really want to go far, just stick to it, the opportunity will come” — he persevered, overcoming hurdles such as injuries from imperfect dives along the way.
His efforts were rewarded with a gold medal at the Asian Diving Cup in Kuala Lumpur last September, which came with a ticket to the Olympics.
Calling it a “surreal” experience, he says: “I was stunned when I qualified. Everyone was congratulating me, and I could barely process my own thoughts. It is exciting, yet scary, to be the one to represent Singapore at the Games in 2021, and it’ll be something I’ll never forget.”
After months of being unable to train at a pool, Chan was finally able to return to OCBC Aquatic Centre when it opened on June 20.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION
Prior to Covid-19, the second-year architecture major at Singapore University of Technology and Design can be found training at OCBC Aquatic Centre five days a week, with each session lasting almost four hours.
But due to its closure during circuit breaker, Chan and his teammates have had to take some creative measures over the past few months. “We worked out together over Zoom and brought some mats home to continue flipping. But without a pool, we could only try and maintain overall fitness.”
With Phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening, he is glad to be back at the pool, despite the aches and pains of training hard.
After three months of training on dry land, he adds: “Going back to the pool was nice. I definitely missed the feel of the water.”
