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Tao Li

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Tao Li
200px
At a ceremony welcoming Team Singapore home from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, 25 August 2008
Personal information
Nationality Singaporean
Born (1990-01-10) 10 January 1990 (age 34)
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight 58 kg (128 lb) (2006)[2]
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Backstroke, butterfly stroke
Club Swimfast Aquatic Club
College team Singapore Sports School

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Tao (Chinese: 陶; pinyin: Táo).

Tao Li (Chinese: 陶李; pinyin: Táo Lǐ; born 10 January 1990) is a China-born Singaporean competitive swimmer specializing in the backstroke and butterfly stroke.

A Singapore Sports School student, Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and Asian Games and holds several national records. She won four gold medals and a bronze at the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, and reached the finals of the women's 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though she did not gain any medals. In December 2006, Tao took a gold medal at the 50 metres butterfly in Doha's 2006 Asian Games, beating China's multi-gold medallist Xu Yanwei and breaking her own national record in the process. She became Singapore's most medalled athlete at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, winning four gold medals. Earlier in the year, she also became the first Singaporean female swimmer to reach a FINA World Aquatics Championships final, finishing seventh in the 50 metres butterfly.

Tao made her Olympic début for Singapore at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She qualified for the 100 metres finals, ranking fourth in the semifinals with a time of 57.54 seconds and setting two Asian records in two days. She thus became the first Singaporean swimmer to enter an Olympic final. She emerged fifth at the women's 100 metres butterfly finals with a time of 57.99 seconds.

Early life and education

Tao Li was born on 10 January 1990[3] in Wuhan, Hubei,[4] in the People's Republic of China,[5] the only child of Tao Ran and his wife Li Yan, who were both former provincial swimmers and are now swimming coaches.[6] Her early years were spent in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. She started swimming at the age of five, and had started competitive swimming by the time she was ten. In her first contest she won two gold medals and broke two age records.[4] On one occasion at a particular local meet that she was confident of winning, she had her parents attend. However, she lost and was so upset and worried about "losing face" that she asked her parents not to come for future competitions. While she has now overcome that fear, her parents still keep to the "tradition" of not attending her meets in order not to distract her. In 2002, at the age of 13 years, Tao was brought to Singapore by her mother.[7] It was difficult for her parents to decide to send her to Singapore, and her father was initially against the idea as at the time she was training with a provincial swimming team and earning a monthly salary of RMB500, and there was a good chance she might do well enough to join the Chinese national team.[2][6] However, they decided to do so after she was deemed too short for the national team.[8] As her mother was not earning much, she found covering Tao's swimming expenses difficult.[9] In addition, because Tao's English was not good, she had to join a Primary 5 class in Queenstown Primary School though she was three years older than her classmates and found things tough-going.[4][9] However, she worked hard and took extra language lessons, and now converses fluently in English.[9]

Tao became a Singapore citizen in August 2005.[2][5] She is a Secondary 3 student at the Singapore Sports School in 2008, and is expected to continue her education there until she graduates with a diploma in sports science under an arrangement between the school and the Auckland University of Technology.[10] She trains under the school's swimming coach Peter Churchill.[8] Previously at the Aquatic Performance Swim Club under former Olympian Ang Peng Siong from 2001, following what was reported to be a contract dispute she started training in October 2006 with another former Olympian, David Lim, at Swimfast Aquatic Club.[7][11]

Career as national swimmer

Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and Asian Games. Following her success at the 1st Hong Kong Open Invitational Championships in 2005 at which she won four gold medals and was named most outstanding female swimmer,[12] at the 23rd SEA Games held in the Philippines later that year, she won golds for the 100 metres backstroke, 200 metres butterfly, and 4 x 100 metres medley relay with teammates Ho Shu Yong, Nicolette Teo and Joscelin Yeo.[3]

In March the following year, she won gold in the 50 metres butterfly at the Milo Asia Swimming Championships in Singapore, the Republic's first top award at the competition.[3][13] Between 16 and 21 March 2006 she took part in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, reaching the finals of the 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly, though she did not gain any medals.[3] In December the same year, Tao won a gold medal at the 50 metres butterfly in Doha's 2006 Asian Games, beating China's multi-gold medallist Xu Yanwei and breaking her own national record in the process.[14] She also won a bronze medal at the 100 metres butterfly earlier in the tournament, recording a national and Asian mark of 58.96 seconds.[15]

Tao became the first Singaporean female swimmer to reach a FINA World Aquatics Championships final. The 2007 World Aquatics Championships were held in Melbourne from 17 March to 1 April 2007, and she finished seventh in the 50 metres butterfly.[16] Later that year at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, she was Singapore's most medalled athlete at the Games, winning four gold medals in the 100 metres backstroke, 100 and 200 metres butterfly, and 4 x 100 metres medley relay.[17] On 28 June 2008, Tao was named Sportswoman of the Year in the Singapore Sports Awards given out by the Singapore National Olympic Council[18] each year.[19] She also won the award in 2007.[19][20]

In January 2008, Tao became embroiled in controversy after the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) introduced a 15% levy on the cash awards given to swimmers, with about 6% set aside for youth development. As part of the government's Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP), she received S$23,750 for winning three individual titles and one team gold at the 2007 SEA Games. She was therefore "taxed" S$3,562.50, with S$1,425 going to youth development. Unhappy with this, Tao said: "If they [the SSA] want to cultivate youth, they should find their own money, not pay using our awards. It's through our hard work that we got the money. So, I don't see the point that we should give the money to the youths." She also said it had been her school and not the SSA which had borne the expense of her overseas training. The SSA said it was "very disappointed" with her comments, and pointed out that the association had spent "easily in excess of $20,000" in sending her for competitions abroad such as the World Championships, Hong Kong Open and Japan International, and a stint at the Australian Institute of Sport. SSA Vice-President Oon Jin Gee told the press, "Even with the Sports School funding it, it's our taxpayers' dollars going into her development. It doesn't matter which avenue it comes from, it's still Singapore's support for her."[21]

File:TaoLi-FINASwimmingWorldCup-Singapore-20081101.jpg
Tao powering her way to gold in the finals of the 100 metres short-course butterfly event on 1 November 2008 at the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup, held at the Singapore Sports School.

2008 Summer Olympics

Tao made her Olympic début for Singapore at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, arriving ranked 26th out of 49 butterfly swimmers.[22] On 9 August, the second day of the swimming competition, she qualified fourth fastest for the semifinals of the 100 metres butterfly after winning her heat with a personal best time of 57.77 seconds. The following day she made it to the finals, shaving off 0.23 seconds for another personal best time and new Asian record of 57.54 seconds. She came fourth behind her role model, Australian swimmer Lisbeth Trickett,[22] and the USA's Christine Magnuson and Australia's Jessicah Schipper.[23][24] She thus set two Asian records and the national record for the event,[25] and became the eighth fastest butterfly swimmer in the world and first Singaporean swimmer to enter an Olympic final.[23] On 11 August, she came fifth at the 100 metres butterfly finals with a time of 57.99 seconds. The top three spots were taken by Trickett (56.73 seconds), Magnuson (57.10 seconds) and Schipper (57.25 seconds).[26][27] Asked by The Straits Times about her performance, Tao said, "If I have given another personal best, it would not have gotten me a medal. The top three winners were just too good. I wanted to do my best and I pushed all the way and hoped for the best."[26] Given Tao's age compared to those of the medallists, there are hopes that she will be able to improve her performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[28]

On 12 August, Tao swam in the second heat of the 200 metres butterfly. She finished fifth (26th in a field of 34) and thus did not proceed to the semi-finals, but her time of 2 minutes 12.63 seconds was a new national record.[29] Discussions have begun regarding plans for her future development. The Singapore Sports Council's high performance chief Wayde Clews has said: "Money will not be a prohibitive factor in providing the support and necessary resources for Tao Li to reach her full potential ... with the 2012 Olympics as the target."[10] As Tao needs to gain more high-level competing experience, there is also the issue of whether she should continue training in Singapore or head overseas, particularly to Australia or the US.[30]

Events between 2008 and 2012

On 1 November 2008 at the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup in Singapore, Tao achieved gold in the 100 metres short-course (25 metres) butterfly, and the following evening a bronze in the 50 metres butterfly in a personal-best time of 25.93 seconds.[31] She repeated her feat in the 100 metres butterfly at the Stockholm leg of the competition on 11 November,[32] and in Berlin on 15 November when she set a competition record with a time of 56.28 seconds.[33] Tao was named the inaugural The Straits Times Athlete of the Year 2008,[8][34] and came second in Today newspaper's 2008 list of athletes of the year.[35]

Tao participated in the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos. On 10 December 2009, she took the gold in the 200 metres backstroke in a time of 2 minutes 17.12 seconds.[36] Three days later, she was part of the winning 4 x 100 metres medley relay team with Roanne Ho, Shana Lim and Quah Ting Wen,[37] and on 14 December she broke her own 2005 Games record in the 200 metres butterfly in a time of 2 minutes 13.49 seconds. As she chalked up five wins, including the 100 metres backstroke and butterfly events, these were her most successful Games to date.[38]

On 18 November 2010, Tao won Singapore's first gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in the 50 metres butterfly. Her time of 26.10 seconds was a personal best as well as a national record.[39] She had achieved silver in the 100 metres butterfly on 13 November.[40]

2012 Summer Olympics

Tao competed for Singapore at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In the women's 100 metres butterfly she reached the semifinals held on 28 July, but with a time of 58.18 seconds did not do well enough to join the eight swimmers who advanced to the finals with times below 58 seconds. The next day, in the women's 100 metres backstroke, she bettered her national record with a time of 1 minute 1.6 seconds but did not advance beyond the heats, ranking only 26th out of 45 swimmers.[41]

Medals

Time
(min : s)		 Medal Date Competition
100 m backstroke
1:02.96[42]
(Games record)		 Gold 12 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
1:03.83[3][43] Gold 1 December 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
1:04.05[17] Gold 9 December 2007 24th Southeast Asian Games
Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand
200 m backstroke
2:17:12[36] Gold 10 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
50 m butterfly
0:26.10[39]
(personal best,
national record)		 Gold 18 November 2010 2010 Asian Games
Guangzhou, China
0:26.73[44] Gold 7 December 2006 2006 Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
0:26.92[3][13] Gold 6 March 2006 Milo Asia Swimming Championships
Singapore
50 m butterfly (short course – 25 m)
0:25.70[45] Bronze 16 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Berlin, Germany
0:25.93[31]
(personal best)		 Bronze 2 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Singapore
100 m butterfly
0:58.24[40] Silver 13 November 2010 2010 Asian Games
Guangzhou, China
0:58.96[15] Bronze 2 December 2006 2006 Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
0:59.24[42]
(Games record)		 Gold 12 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
1:00.33[17] Gold 9 December 2007 24th Southeast Asian Games
Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand
1:01.10[46] Bronze 8 March 2006 Milo Asia Swimming Championships
Singapore
1:01.53[3][47] Bronze 1 December 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
100 m butterfly (short course – 25 m)
0:56.28[33]
(competition record)		 Gold 15 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Berlin, Germany
0:56.85[31] Gold 1 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Singapore
0:56.87[32] Gold 11 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Stockholm, Sweden
0:58.50[32] Silver 10 November 2008 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup
Moscow, Russia
200 m butterfly
2:13.49[38]
(Games record)		 Gold 14 December 2005 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
2:14.11[3][48] Gold 3 December 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
2:15.63[49] Gold 11 December 2007 24th Southeast Asian Games
Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand
4 × 100 m medley relay
4:10.38[37]
(Games record)		 Gold 13 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
4:13.18[50] Gold 11 December 2007 24th Southeast Asian Games
Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand
4:14.49[3][51] Gold 2 December 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

National records

As of 30 July 2012, Tao was the holder of the following Singapore records:

Open

Event Time (min : s) Date Competition
50 m backstroke 0:29.20 4 December 2006 15th Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
100 m backstroke 1:01.60[41] 29 July 2012 30th Summer Olympics
London, United Kingdom
200 m backstroke 2:17.12[36] 10 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos
50 m butterfly 0:26.10[39] 18 November 2010 16th Asian Games
Guangzhou, China
100 m butterfly 0:57.54[25] 10 August 2008 29th Summer Olympics
Beijing, People's Republic of China
200 m butterfly 2:12.63[29] 12 August 2008 29th Summer Olympics
Beijing, People's Republic of China
4 × 100 m freestyle relay
(with Ho Shu Yong, Mylene Ong Chui Bin and Lynette Ng Hiang Yuet)		 3:53.33 3 December 2006 15th Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
4 × 100 m medley relay
(with Roanne Ho, Shana Lim and Quah Ting Wen)		 4:10.38[37] 13 December 2009 25th Southeast Asian Games
Vientiane, Laos

Some of the above information was obtained from Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..

Under 17 years of age

Event Time (min : s) Date Competition
50 m backstroke 0:29.20 4 December 2006 15th Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
100 m backstroke 1:03.17 20 June 2007 3rd Singapore National Swim Championships
Singapore
200 m backstroke 2:17.55 29 November 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
50 m butterfly 0:26.73 7 December 2006 15th Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
100 m butterfly 0:58.96 2 December 2006 15th Asian Games
Doha, Qatar
200 m butterfly 2:14.11 3 December 2005 23rd Southeast Asian Games
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
4 × 100 m medley relay
(with Roanne Ho Ru'En, Koh Ting Ting and Mylene Ong Chui Bin)		 4:24.78 2 September 2006 2nd Hong Kong Open Swimming Championships 2006
Hong Kong, People's Republic of China

The above information was obtained from Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link].
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. For this achievement, and for getting a bronze medal in the 100 metres butterfly, she was awarded S$312,500 under the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP): Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. See also Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. See also Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. See also Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link].
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. See also Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link].
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. Tao's first Asian record of 57.77 seconds was broken minutes later by Chinese swimmer Zhou Yafei who qualified for the semifinals with a time of 57.70 seconds: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. However, Tao regained the Asian record with her semifinal time of 57.54 seconds: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link].
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..

References

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..

Further reading

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..

External links

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