Driven Oh Regains Hunger To Compete

Singaporean comes out of retirement to make comeback in open water swimming

- Kimberly Kwek

When Ritchie Oh retired from competitive swimming in 2023, the idea of racing at a home world championships two years later was certainly not on his radar.

After competing at the 2019 SEA Games, Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 and two world championships, he felt he had reached the end of his journey in the sport.

Once driven by his goals of qualifying for major competitions, he began to feel stagnant, constantly measuring himself against others and training became a chore.

Oh said: "I stopped caring about what major meets I could qualify for, which had been my biggest drive before – to keep improving and making the next bigger competition.

"I dreaded going for training and did not have a goal any more."

Now, the 22-year-old is among eight open water swimmers representing the Republic at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Oh said he had enjoyed the freedom in the first few months after his retirement, occasionally entering local meets to catch up with friends.

But by late 2024, something was missing.

He said: "I pushed myself in the gym, but after a few months I realised it wasn't enough for me.

"I thought I was missing out on something, but I didn't know it was swimming because I thought I had firmly made a decision to stop and I had no passion for it any more."