By Loretta Race on SwimSwam
Singaporean National Record holder and Asian Games medalist Roanne Ho has announced her retirement from the sport of swimming.
The 26-year-old breaststroking ace said via social media today, “There are many reasons for this decision but to put it simply, I’ve accomplished what I set out for myself. Thus, leaving this sport, I have no regrets. When I made my comeback, all I wanted was a gold medal at the 2015 SEA Games because it was on home ground. Here we are, 4 years later.”
Ho has suffered from several setbacks over the course of her career, including being sick during the end of 2015, jeopardizing her SEA Games qualification that year, to a collapsed lung in 2016 as well as bouts of depression that came to a head right before last year’s Asian Games.
Ho persevered and came away from Jakarta last year with a big-time silver in the ultra-competitive women’s 50m breaststroke event, beating Chinese rival Feng Junyang in the process.
Continued Ho in her announcement, “Swimming has always been a big part of my life, but if you asked me how I wound up to where I am today, I couldn’t tell you. I still remember the days when my parents had to yell at me to not jump into the water before they placed my arm floats on. I remember diving underwater in the kiddie pool, looking for coins during a “treasure hunt”. I remember learning to do a dive from the side of the pool because the blocks were too high and scary. All these and all of a sudden, I’m on the podium, looking at my country’s flag being raised.”
There are many reasons for this decision but to put it simply, I've accomplished what I set out for myself. Thus, leaving this sport, I have no regrets. When I made my comeback, all I wanted was a gold medal at the 2015 SEA Games because it was on home ground. Here we are, 4 years later. 