Singapore Sports School, Wednesday, April 27, 2011 — In a competition dominated by the traditional powerhouses of the Anglo-Chinese and Raffles family of schools, it was surprising and somewhat refreshing to see Outram Secondary featuring among the top achievers as well.

And they largely have Secondary 4 student Ren Guan Ji to thank for that.

Not only did Guan Ji win his two 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke races to contribute 18 points for his school, he even set a new record timing in his 200m individual medley swim at the 52nd National Inter-School Swimming Championships.

His time of 2 minutes 10.49 seconds in the swim smashed the previous record by more than a second.

Yet the unassuming 18-year-old is no stranger to the competitive world of swimming.

Born in Shanghai in 1993, he picked up swimming in his kindergarten at the age of 5 and embarked on his first race at 10 years of age. He went on achieve many accolades at the age group swimming competitions in China and counts his individual 6th position as well as 2nd position in the relays in the 15-17 age group category as his proudest achievement.

Yet his stellar accomplishments at the inter-school swimming championships held over two weeks at the Singapore Sports School were not without help.

Outram Secondary had recently established their very own Outram Sports Academy to help athletes like Guan Ji achieve their potential and raise the overall profile of sports.

Explained Mr Adrian Teo, head of department for physical education in Outram Secondary: “We have engaged a full-time professional to look into the training programmes of the sports within the academy to ensure that it is comprehensive. The training encompasses various sports aspects and includes sports psychology as well.”

These new initiatives have definitely helped pushed the sporting culture in an upward direction for the school, as seen by their B Division water polo boys qualifying for the national final as well. They eventually finished runners-up behind Anglo-Chinese School (Independent).

Guan Ji though, is simply contented to help contribute points towards his team 5th place finish in the A Division boys tally.

“I’ll be taking my O levels at the end of the year and am still undecided about my future. Yet I hope to be able to qualify for a sports program in a polytechnic next year,” he added.

Red Sports wishes him all the best for his future!

A Division Boys Overall Results
1 Raffles Institution 197 points
2 Anglo Chinese Junior College 135 points
3 Anglo Chinese Sch Independent 101 points
4 Temasek Junior College 27 points
5 Outram Sec School 26 points
6 Catholic Junior College 14 points
7 Serangoon Junior College 7 points
8 Yishun Junior College 5 points
9 Victoria Junior College 3 points

A Division Girls Overall Results
1 Raffles Institution 279 points
2 Anglo Chinese Junior College 88 points
3 Temasek Junior College 70 points
4 Victoria Junior College 47 points
5 Catholic Junior College 22 points
5 Anglo Chinese Sch Independent 22 points
7 Yishun Junior College 10 points
8 Nus High School 7 points
9 Serangoon Junior College 4 points

Selected A Division Swimming Races