Leslie Kwok

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Leslie Kwok
Personal information
Full nameLeslie Kwok Ying Wah
National teamFlag of Singapore.svg  Singapore
Born (1973-11-12) 12 November 1973 (age 51)
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
ClubChinese Swimming Club
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Singapore
Southeast Asian Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1997 Jakarta 50 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1999 Brunei 50 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Manila 50 m freestyle

Leslie Kwok Ying Wah (born 12 November 1973) is a Singaporean former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events and later turned into an actor, entrepreneur, and a part-time professional model. [1] He earned three bronze medals each in the 50 m freestyle from the Southeast Asian Games, and later represented Singapore at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Kwok is also an Anglo-Chinese School alumnus, and later a graduate with a bachelor of science degree in civil and structural engineering at Nanyang Technological University. [2]

Kwok competed for Singapore in the men's 50 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He achieved a FINA B-cut of 23.72 from the Southeast Asian Games in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. [3] [4] He challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including Kyrgyzstan's Sergey Ashihmin, Goodwill Games silver medalist for Russia, and Kazakhstan's two-time Olympian Sergey Borisenko. Diving in with a 0.73-second deficit, Kwok scorched the entire race to share a fourth seed with Peru's Luis López Hartinger in an exact time of 24.00, but finished outside an entry standard. Kwok failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-ninth overall in the prelims. [5] [6]

At the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Manila, Kwok added a third bronze to his six-year-old hardware in the 50 m freestyle (23.58), finishing behind Indonesia's veteran Richard Sam Bera and Thailand's newcomer Arwut Chinnapasaen by more than half a second (0.50).

In early 2006, Kwok announced his official retirement from swimming to extend his resume in entrepreneurship and other lifestyle businesses. As a part-time professional model, he has appeared in several sports magazines, print ad campaigns, and TV commercials, and has featured on the cover of a popular Asian woman magazine Female. A top-class entrepreneur, Kwok currently owns a massage and health spa called Elements Spa & Slimming, founded in April 2002. [7] [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Leslie Kwok". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award – Sport and Excellence: Mr. Kwok Ying Wah Leslie" (PDF). Nanyang Technological University. February 2006. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 4)" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Richard good as gold in 50m freestyle". Jakarta: The Jakarta Post. 12 August 1999. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Heat 4" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . LA84 Foundation. p. 104. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Results from the Summer Olympics – Swimming (Men's 50m Freestyle)". Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ "Get on Bod". The Star (Malaysia) . 9 January 2007. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Tay, Suan Chiang (27 April 2013). "Leading the charge". Business Times (Singapore) . Retrieved 10 June 2013.


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