The upcoming National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition promises to be one heck of a show for Singaporeans, as national swimmer Quah Zheng Wen finally gets the green light to compete for the University of California, Berkeley, after more than a month of waiting for the approval to come in. This sets up a much-anticipated face-off between him and fellow Singaporean athlete and Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling.
The 20-year old clocked 1 min 40.36 sec in the 200-yard butterfly at the Pac-12 Invitational on Sunday (March 6 in Singapore), coming in second to University of Texas’ Jack Conger’s time of 1 min 39.17 sec to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Schooling is the event’s defending champion.
Quah had originally arrived in the United States in January, but had to wait for clearance from the NCAA to compete. NCAA has rules stating that athletes are forbidden from receiving financial assistance based on athletic abilities or participation, and Quah was a brand ambassador for Liberty Insurance.
So mark your calendars and prepare your pom-poms, folks: The Quah-Schooling showdown will commence at the NCAA Championships later this month.
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