Yeo upbeat over Singapore swimmers' Asiad hopes

Singapore national swimmer Danny Yeo was just three months old when the Republic last clinched a medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay in the 1990 Asian Games.

Fast forward to the present, and the 28-year-old has a real shot of a podium finish in the event during the Aug 18-Sept 2 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

While it is still undecided which final four will feature in the relay, the quartet of Yeo, Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling and Darren Lim are one of the strongest 4x100m freestyle relay teams the Republic has assembled recently.

Last year, the four made waves when they won the 4x100m free at the SEA Games in 3min 17.85sec, smashing both the national and SEA Games record of 3:19.59 in the process.

That timing would have won them a bronze comfortably at the last Asiad, where China (3:13.47), Japan (3:14.38) and Hong Kong (3:22.45) finished on the podium in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.

This time around, the Singapore quartet will be aiming to replicate that timing at least.

While Yeo was coy on the possibility of a relay medal, he expressed high hopes for Singapore's swimmers.

He said: "Many people are breaking national records this year and this might be our strongest swim team in a while.

"There's a good chance the whole swim team will get a couple of medals. We have progressed since 2014 and we have very strong swimmers on our team."

At the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea, Singapore's swimmers won one gold, two silvers and three bronzes.

Should the swimmers make it to the finals in Jakarta, they will come up against top swimmers from the likes of China and Japan, who collected 93 out of 114 swimming medals on offer at the last Asiad.

Said Yeo: "China and Japan are much stronger man to man and we are slightly slower, but we still have a very strong team.

"We'll just do our best, and you might be surprised at what we might do."

At 28, Yeo is the oldest member of the Singapore swim team.

GREATEST PILLAR OF SUPPORT

He recently graduated from the Singapore Management University with a bachelor's degree in business management, after juggling university life with twice-daily training sessions for over four years.

Thanks to the support from his friends and professors, he managed to find a balance between studies and sport.

Many people are breaking national records this year and this might be our strongest swim team in a while. National swimmer Danny Yeo expresses high hopes for Singapore's swimming team at the Asian Games

He said: "The school is very flexible and the professors are understanding. In the instance that I don't understand anything, I go to my classmates for help."

Yeo's greatest pillar of support has been his mother.

He said: "My mom has supported me all the way and sacrificed a lot.

"When I'm up at 4.45am, she's up as well and she would drive me between practice and school."

This year's Asiad will likely be his last and he will be hoping to end his Asian Games career on a high. He will go into the Games with confidence, having rewritten his personal best for the 100m (50.08) and 200m (1.48.98) freestyle events last year.

But he has set himself modest targets for this Asiad, saying: "There are no tangible targets. I just go there and try my best. Hopefully, get a personal best.

"It's more of whether I'm hitting my best times, and to get a personal best last year at 27 felt pretty good."