Quick Facts
VirgoBiography
Pang Sheng Jun (born 1992) is a Singaporean national swimmer. In 2011, Pang won a bronze in the men's 1500m freestyle to become the only other Singaporean to win a medal at the FINA Swimming World Cup. In 2015, he picked up his first individual Southeast Asian Games medal, clinching silver in the 400m individual medley.
Personal life
Pang is the youngest son of Agnes Ng and Pang Boon Teng. He has two sisters who swam competitively until they were 16 years old when they decided to focus on their studies instead.
Pang started swimming from the age of four upon doctor's recommendation due to his asthma. He began competitive swimming at six years old.
In 2014, he received an Outstanding Sports Achievement Award for swimming from the Singapore Sports School.
He is currently a Sports Science and Management student at the Nanyang Technological University and will graduate in 2018.
Career
At the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, Pang, then 17 years old, saw his medal dreams crushed cruelly not once, but twice, when he finished fourth in the men's 200m and 400m individual medleys. He did not give up. Two years later, he was back at the 2011 SEA Games at Jakabaring Aquatics Centre in Palembang, determined to win a medal in his sole event, the 400m freestyle, but finished fifth. That could be said to be his lowest point in his swimming career. He had a near suicidal experience when he climbed up to the highest floor of his apartment building at the Games Village but his teammate and best friend Russell Ong stepped in just as he was about to take his last leap.
Pang admitted that his demons – depression – never really went away, until he won gold with the men's 4x200m freestyle team at the Myanmar SEA Games in 2013.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the final cut for the 2016 Rio Olympics although he had clocked Olympic 'B' times in the 400m individual medley and freestyle, Pang is now set on winning honours at the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia, and plans to swim full-time after his graduation in 2018 as he targets an Olympic berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games.