By Zal Dastur

Two of Singapore's Olympic swimmers will be back in the pool once again after a much deserved break. The FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup is coming to Singapore's shores for the second time on the 1st and 2nd of November at the Singapore Sports School and Singapore's best will be pitting their skills against the rest of the world, with hopes of doing the republic proud.

This will be the first chance for Singaporeans, to see their very own Asian record holder, Tao Li in action since she came fifth at the Olympics. After her stellar performance Tao Li will be hoping she can keep up the form that saw her setting the Asian record for the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 57.54sec at the Olympics. Tao Li's time in the Olympics ranks as the eighth fastest swim over that distance of all time. She has also won the gold medal for the 50-metre butterfly at the 15th Asian Games in 2006 and four gold medals in the 24th SEA Games in 2007. In this same event last year Tao Li did a splendid job by collecting three silver medals over the two days, this year she will hope to go one step further on the podium.

Besides Tao Li, national record holder Quah Ting Wen will also be participating in the event. Ting Wen set a national record at the first round of the Beijing Olympics in the 400-metre individual medley, and will be looking to improve her performance on home turf. Singapore's burgeoning pool of talent will also be on display, such as SEA Games relay gold medallist Marcus Cheah, who won silver in this event last year. Swimming alongside Marcus will be Rainer Ng who was voted best male swimmer at the 4th Singapore National Swimming Championship. Some of the other local talent that will be on display include Lim Zhi Cong, Amanda Lim, Mylene Ong and Shana Lim.

Singapore hosted a round of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup for the first time last year. The event was sold out on both days as packed crowds came to watch over 100 elite athletes from over 13 countries battle for top honours. The crowds were not disappointed as they witnessed the first ever world record broken on Singapore shores when Natalie Coughlin of the United States broke the 100-metre short course world record with a time of 56.51sec. The FINA Technical Swimming Committee also gave its stamp of approval with the acknowledgement that the event was "world class".

The FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup will be held at the Singapore Sports School from the 1st - 2nd November. Heats will be held at 9:30am and the finals at 6pm on both days. Tickets are $20 for single day, $30 for both days. Further discount available for purchases of over 50 tickets.

Please visit www.finaworldcup.com.sg or call 6258 1011 for more information.