The Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games Celebrates Sport and Diversity - Men's Folio
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The Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games Celebrates Sport and Diversity

  • By Asaph Low

The Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games Celebrates Sport and DiversityThe exclusive Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games edition

Birmingham, England is set to receive athletes from over 70 Commonwealth nations and territories this July end as the city will be hosting the Commonwealth Games. First inaugurated in 1930, the Games takes place once every four years (with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to World War II) and will be held for the 22nd time this year.

Supporting the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is Longines, Official Partner and Timekeeper of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The relationship between Longines and the Commonwealth Games first blossomed in Perth, Australia at the 1962 Games. A long hiatus ensued after but the partnership rekindled again in the 2014 and 2018 Games held at Glasgow, Scotland and Gold Coast, Australia respectively. Longines went on to set a new milestone in 2020 as the Commonwealth Sport confirmed they will turn to the Swiss watchmaker’s timekeeping expertise for the 2022, 2026 and 2030 Games.

In anticipation of the upcoming Games, Longines released the exclusive HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games as part of the HydroConquest collection. Picking the HydroConquest for this special series was a no-brainer as the dive watch lives up to the demands and competitive nature of the athletes with its robust and reliable construction. The stainless steel case is afforded 300m water resistance and is accompanied by a matching bracelet with an integrated diving extension piece and a double security folding clasp for additional wearing security. A total of 2022 pieces of the HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games are produced, each bearing the Birmingham 2022 logo and “Limited Edition – 1 out of 2022” engraving on the case back. The colours of the event logo are outfitted on the watch’s black ceramic bezel and minute track as part of this special execution.

As with Commonwealth Games tradition, the Queen’s Baton Relay is held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton, which carries a message from Queen Elizabeth II, will depart from Buckingham Palace before heading to other Commonwealth countries. As Official Partner and Timekeeper of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Longines appointed national swimmer Quah Ting Wen to represent the Swiss watchmaker at the Relay when the Baton arrived in Singapore from 18 to 20 January.

The Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games Celebrates Sport and DiversityQuah Ting Wen is wearing the Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games

You represent Longines — Official Partner and Official Timekeeper for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games, as one of the baton bearers at the Queen’s Baton Relay. How do you feel about it?
Quah Ting Wen: I feel very honoured. Longines is the first luxury watch brand I had the pleasure of working with so I’m very excited to start this journey with them. I had a lot of fun this morning at the Baton Relay, even after it started raining, and to see the city from a different view gave me a very strong sense of pride.

Do you recall the moment when you first found out you were representing Longines as one of the baton bearers at the Queen’s Baton Relay? Talk us through it.
The news broke to me about a month ago — obviously I was very excited. I couldn’t wait to get started and I was thinking about what kind of preparations I had to do prior. It was a new experience for me and anything new for me is always an adventure.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is a games tradition that celebrates the Commonwealth’s diversity. How have you experienced this within your personal capacity?
I recalled being at my very first Commonwealth Games at Melbourne 2006 when I was 14 and it was the first time I’d experienced being at any competition where parathletes are also involved in the Games and I found it so fascinating that we stayed behind to watch them compete. It’s amazing to see so many people from different backgrounds, cultures and life stories come together to celebrate sport. I remembered meeting an Australian parathlete swimmer who introduced himself as “Shaky” while we were being transported around in the Games Village. He had Parkinson’s disease and that was the first time I heard and learnt about the disease. Sometimes in society, we learn things that in a way separate and create certain prejudice or stereotypes but the way he did it was very inclusive. I’ve learnt a lot from my experience at Melbourne 2006 and since then the Commonwealth Games was one of my favourite competitions.

Quah Ting Wen with Kara Owen, the British High Commissioner to Singapore.

Singapore has been winning medals at the Commonwealth Games for the past consecutive five games, will this give the Singapore contingent confidence in bringing home medals for Singapore?
With everything that’s been happening with COVID and the last few years being up and down, we’re all very excited to start travelling and competing again for Singapore and to see what we can do at the Games. We have six months to train hard — I’m excited to see what we can do.

You are perhaps one of the more senior athletes representing Singapore. How do you help translate that seniority and experience into helping the younger athletes amongst the Singapore contingent?
I’ve gone from being the youngest to the most senior on the swim team and now I’m taking on more of a mentorship role to the younger ones. At times I forget that as a competitive athlete I have to take care of myself and in a way be a bit more selfish with my energy because I’m all about helping the younger ones. I do enjoy being one of the older ones and sharing what I’ve learnt the last 18 years but it’s about striking a balance between looking out for myself and others.

Do you have a rough idea yet on the events you hope to qualify and compete in at the Commonwealth Games and have you set any targets for yourself so far?
I definitely want to swim in my main events which are the 50-metres and 100-metres freestyle and butterfly. I also want to be in as many relays as possible because that’s always fun for me and it will be an opportunity for me to swim with my sister.

Have you set any targets for yourself at the Commonwealth Games?
I want to qualify for sure but at the same time I want to see how far we can go — we’ve been to the finals before but now it’s about how close we can get to the podium places.

Apart from the Commonwealth Games, the SEA Games, FINA World Championships and Asian games will be taking place too. Are you aiming to qualify for those events as well?
We’ve already qualified for the SEA Games and FINA World Championships last year but we have the trials coming up for the Commonwealth and Asian Games in March. I’m hoping to qualify for those which means I’ll have a very packed schedule. It’s going to be exciting!

How do you schedule your training to ensure you are in peak condition going into each competition then?
With this year being so busy, I have to be a bit more selfish with my time and energy as I said before. I see it more as if I’m able to take care of myself properly and get the best out of myself then I can share that version of myself with everyone else. I have a tendency of stretching myself too thin, which I have in the last few years on several occasions, but now I think it’s about being hyper-focused. There are four big competitions coming, almost one a month over the duration of eight months so I want to be as focused as possible, remember what my goals are and try to keep a balance while still remembering that swimming is the priority.

Once you’re done with this story about The Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games edition, click here to catch up with our March 2022 issue!