Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Amanda Lim - Discover the reasons she is swimming faster at 32

What if the fastest version of you hasn’t happened yet? Singapore sprint star Amanda Lim joins us on Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast to unpack how she’s swimming quicker at 32 by flipping the script on volume, rebuilding strength and putting ruthless focus on quality. We dive into the power-first sprint model she’s crafting with coach Bobby Hurley - lift heavy, protect the nervous system and convert gym gains through targeted pool work.

Amanda walks us through the mechanics of true speed: using the Destro for power-resistance sets, structuring short dive efforts with exact stroke-rate targets and the counterintuitive switch to a single breath in the 50 free. She explains why that breath matters more for women, how it stabilised the last 15m of her 50m, and what it took to finally hold above 60 strokes per minute to the wall. We also dig into mobility as the hidden engine of sprinting—scapular control, high-elbow catch and the land-to-water transfer that turned spin into propulsion.

This conversation is rich with takeaways for coaches, sprinters, and masters athletes: designing weeks around three to five purposeful swims, pairing them with heavy pull-ups and max-strength blocks, using force-plate jumps and accurate timing for feedback, and embracing submax composure to go faster. Amanda also opens up about training alone, navigating female physiology in a power program and turning pressure at the SEA Games into a gold medal.

Follow Amanda

Instagram

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Amanda’s Introduction
• 2:00 Rethinking Recovery And Nutrition
• 5:45 Switching To A Strength-First Sprint Model
• 9:50 Pressure, Mindset, And SEA Games Gold
• 13:30 Solo Training To Learn Racing Alone
• 16:20 Weekly Structure: Pool Vs Gym Priorities
• 20:40 Female Physiology And Sprint Planning
• 25:20 Stroke Rate, One Breath, And The Last 15
• 30:10 Mobility Work Changing Technique
• 34:30 Data, Force Plates, And Confidence
• 38:20 Suits, Timing Truth, And Submax Speed
• 43:10 Sharing A New Sprint Frontier
• 47:00 Deep Dive Five: Sets, Lifts, Drills, Sleep, Heroes
• 52:30 Closing Reflections And Sign-Off

Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:05

Hello, swimmers, and welcome to Torpedo Swim talk, the podcast celebrating swimmers at every stage, from masters' legends to Olympic champions. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we dive into inspiring conversations from around the world about performance, resilience, and the pure love of swimming. Today's guest is Amanda Lim, who is one of Singapore's most decorated swimmers. She's a relentless 50 freestyle racer, a big beat performer, and a key part of Singapore's relay success over more than a decade. But what makes this conversation especially interesting is that at 32, Amanda's swimming faster than ever, using a smarter, power-based sprint model that blends pool work in Singapore with coach Bobby Hurley, who we had on the podcast recently, plus time in Brisbane under Tim Lane, Cam McAvoy's coach. In this episode, we get into the real specifics, how speed holds up in your 30s, what strength and mobility work looks like, and how the balance between elite sport and a full-time career works. Let's hear from Amanda now. Hi Amanda, welcome to the podcast. Hello, hi, thank you for having me. Oh, you're really welcome. I'm really pleased that we were able to sort of uh get a time to chat. I've been so interested in getting you on.

Amanda Lim: 1:32

Yes, yeah, uh, yeah, thank you for you know being patient. You know, you I think you first got in touch with me last year, and I was just uh getting ready to go for the sea games and uh yeah, it was quite uh crazy time actually. Yeah, so I'm glad life has slowed down a little tiny bit right now. So yeah, happy to share whatever experiences that I have and yeah, just to talk swimming, I guess.

Danielle Spurling: 1:58

Yeah, yeah, that's what we love. We love talking swimming. So you're 32 and you you're swimming faster than ever, which completely flip flips the sort of the old swimming narrative. And before we get too technical, I wanted to actually sort of find out how that feels different in your body to when you were earlier in your career, sort of in your you know, early, late teens and early 20s. What's the difference?

Amanda Lim: 2:22

Yeah, I think that is a that is a very big question because when I was a teenager, when I was younger, well, we feel like we can do everything, right? We own the world. Like recovery is not really the main priority in training, although it is a very much spoken topic around recovery. You know, coaches would tell you that, oh, you need you need to see this and that, but they like but we didn't really deep dive into what kind of recovery to do and how to do it, and how do we adjust that according to the lifestyle that you know each individual might have. For example, example uh, for example, in Singapore, for for teenagers, for kids who are still going to school, you know, their days are packed. I mean, that's coming from my experience, but I'm pretty sure the kids right now, or actually around the world, uh, it's going through the same routine. You get up at what 4:30 a.m. in the morning, and then you spend two hours in a pool, and then you head to school, and then you're back in the pool again. Like, what are we doing in between? Right? The like your nutrition, for example. I I remember when I was maybe, I don't know, like 11 or 12, my go-to meal would be McDonald's, which is bad, which is bad, right? But at that point of time, we didn't have like me myself, I didn't have that knowledge uh that I need to put better foods in my body, and and that was just something quick, right? So I think right now for me, how I feel with my body is I'm just so much aware of what I put inside my body. Um, you know, a lot of people ask me whether I'm strict with my diet, which I guess it's lucky for me to say that I am not. Uh, and I'm also very lucky with the fact that I don't crave unhealthy foods. So I don't feel like I'm missing out on something. Uh, I actually like the cleaner eating and like the healthy lifestyle. So I think like that plays a big part in my swimming career, my longevity per se. Um, yeah, so and now just being older and wiser, hopefully, uh, I'm just much more aware on what's needed for myself because of having gone through the 20 years of training, eating, yeah, like what works for me. And I try to just use that information that is specialized to me instead of following, you know, what's around the world, right? Because it's a I mean it's a one-size-fit-all option, but not everyone fits that option. Um, yeah. And I think for me, it's just being able to step out of my comfort zone to try new things. Uh, yeah, just step out, you know, train away from the national team, find my own coach, find uh like I found Bobby. And and yeah, I mean I think that has just been a very new thing for me. Like I'm still learning on the journey, honestly. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 5:27

Yeah, I love that individualized approach. And I think swimmers all across the world are heading down that path a lot more because we're all so different and our bodies are different as well. Yeah, yeah.

Amanda Lim: 5:38

I think that is still a very big question mark on as to what kind of program suits each of us, but only the individual knows uh what suits them. But again, with that, you have to be very aware of your own body, like what do you really need? So, for example, um I swam in the world triumphs in Singapore in August, swam pretty badly. Uh but at that point of time, it was honestly my, I would say my first big preparation under Bobby. Uh, and I mean honestly, it was the first big prep that I've done with this whole new training program. So walked away from that meet, uh, learning what went wrong, and I picked up on something like really fast, which is to increase my strength. Because I am very much of a strength-based uh athlete, and I'm pretty good in the gym, and I love going to the gym, just like hitting PBs and like heating up reps at heavyweights. Like it feels good, right? You get dopamine from that. And then after World Champs, we decided to, you know what, let's just focus on strength right now. So just go into a big block of uh strength phase, just building my base foundation all over again. Um, and that actually paid off pretty well at the C games. Um, and it's honestly a pretty much a confidence boost for me because I went 25-5 uh in Singapore at the World Championships, and then I basically dropped half a second uh in what? Uh I think I started training in September, October, November, like three months, like barely three months. Yeah, and there's no power work, there's no speed endurance work. Uh, I started that fade, that training phase targeted for the Asian games this year, actually, which is going to happen end of September. So it's like a full year of training program. And Sea Games, it's you know, just one-third of my journey there. Um, and you know, in the past, especially in Singapore and I think in Asia, um, we don't really go on the four-year cycle. So our so we are very used to very short cycles, and I think we are not reaping the benefits enough, especially you know, for strength-based uh athletes. It's it's it's very um, it gets a bit more tricky, I think, with swimming, because then you need to handle like what you're doing in the pool and what you're hand uh doing in the gym. So that is where like Cam and Tim, you know, they they have done it for quite a few preparations. So then with whatever they told us um with the feedback, what they felt, what went, what worked, and what didn't work, um like that actually helped me a lot in my preparations now. You know, like I don't have to go through everything myself per se. But then again, with whatever I take uh feedbacks from them, it has to be uh suitable for me because then Cam is a male athlete, right? And like a male body works differently and a female body works differently as well. And I felt that I felt that during my first preparation, right? We tried to model uh after what Cam does, and yet and then we realized that it's pretty difficult for me to hit top speed at every training session, so then we kind of stepped away from that a little bit, take the pressure away from swimming fast, and just shift the focus into the gym. And I think that worked out pretty well.

Danielle Spurling: 9:23

So yeah, yeah, it certainly did. I mean, just going back to what you said after the World Champs, you had a short sort of three or four months um lead into the SAR games with that new sort of strength base, and you dropped half a second. You went into the Sierra Games as someone who's won a lot of medals there over the time that you've competed, but you weren't a favorite going in for this most recent one. But you came away with the 50 freestyle goal. Was it different going in not as the favorite? And did that take the pressure off a little bit?

Amanda Lim: 9:59

Not really, I think. I think with that, I think as an athlete, right, you don't really want people to think about that about you all the time. So I guess for me, going into the meet, there was something to prove. Um, and I think like that also added on to the the pressure to win per se. Uh, because I've won that event quite a few times leading up to to to to right uh to last year. Uh I've lost the past two editions of the C Games, so then in my mind, like I really wanted it. Um and not being a favorite to win in in that race, actually, that's a very good question because I realized that that is one of the questions that people ask me a lot after after the event. Actually, I I didn't realize that. Um yeah, because like the questions that people asked me after the race it was um, did you think that you could win the race? But like in my mind, I've always thought of I have a chance of winning the race here. So it's I guess it's the it's how I framed the question and how I thought about it myself. I I didn't like never once in that time did I thought that I would lose. Yeah, so instead, like I kept telling myself that there's a chance for me to win here and to really perform. Right. So I think that that really helped uh with my prep going in and like my mindset before the race, the nerves uh were on the yes, like there's a chance to win rather than oh I can lose. Like there's a chance that I might lose, right? I think I think that really that really made that was one of the very uh big factors for me. And also at the C games, you know, the country places a lot of emphasis on it. There's a lot of media tension around it. Family and friends, they all know what the C games are, they know all they like they've seen, you know, in and out, the trainings they have done. Uh it's it's just a big game, you know, in Southeast Asia for some reason, even though the competition caliber isn't that high. Um yeah, so like there's pressure coming from all directions, right? Yeah. And I and I think the competition uh atmosphere at the C games, the feeling that I get, it's very hard to replicate in a big event like the World Champs or the Olympics, just because we are we are just not used to that level of competition yet, I think. Uh so that's actually one of the things that I need to change, right? I need to bring that into other races. And like for me, I am uh I'm pretty competitive. I am a racer. So then if you put me side by side with someone that is around my time, or if I know that I can win, like I will usually win the race. Um, and that is also the reason why I'm kind of training with Bobby as well, because I train with him kind of like just a one-on-one thing. So I don't have any teammates, I basically just train alone, and that is actually to train myself to swim my own race.

Danielle Spurling: 13:24

Yes, I love that. I love that.

Amanda Lim: 13:27

Yeah, yeah, because I mean I I've grown, I've grew up training in a big team. You know, there's there's always people, there's always teammates, and and that has worked out well for me, right? There's always people to push me in the pool. Um, and right now it's the complete opposite. So that is one of the big comfort zones that I've stepped out. And yeah, let's see where that takes us, I guess.

Danielle Spurling: 13:49

Oh, well, it's taking you certainly in the right direction. That's there's no doubt about that. And with the new the new training block that you did before the C games, and now you're heading into that. Um what so how many times were you in the water when you made that change, and how many weight sessions were you doing per week?

Amanda Lim: 14:08

Um I think it's uh like what I went through before C games was pretty overwhelming because I was going through a very tough time at home as well, because my dad he was sick, uh, he was in the hospital. I had to juggle that with training, and I had to juggle that with work as well. Um so I managed to get three swim sessions in with or without Bobby. You know, if I have time, I would make it down to the pool uh to Tang Lin Cha school where I train with him to swim with him. If not, I would just find a pool anywhere that's available, be it like in a condominium or something, just to get the feel of the water, just put on a parachute and you know, just just just get out, just get some sprints in and make sure that I still have the feel for the water and and my sprint technique and my streak uh sprint strokes are still there. And the focus then was really that I really needed to go to the gym. I so I used to only do two gym sessions actually, but I've increased it to three. Um, and on top of that, it would be three swim sessions when I was in Singapore. Um but but uh after my dad passed, um, and I took a uh uh maybe one or two weeks, you know, to settle everything, and then I actually went over to Brisbane to train with Tim for five weeks, and that you know, that was like kind of like a training camp for me, you know, to get away from the life uh in Singapore, um, just to get my head right again. And I did five five swim sessions and three gym. Yeah, so that was basically what I did before C games, and I came back to Singapore for two weeks before heading off to the Sea Games, and during that two weeks I was still sticking to the three gym sessions, and I swam three to four sessions a week, depending on how I feel that week. Yeah, yeah, so it's actually not not a whole lot in the pool, but whatever I yeah, but whatever I did in the pool though was um it was just quality stuff, so there wasn't any uh garbage yardage, right? Um I had one session where I would maybe hit three color uh three kilometers, three K, and that would be more of an aerobic session. Um that was actually something that I picked up um because Cam doesn't do any aerobic session, right? But I think for the female body, and I think just with the kind of foundation that I had in uh the kind of training that I did in the past 20 years, I don't think that actually helped me be uh God faster, but it just made me feel like okay, I'm getting some work done. So it's like the mindset just because I've been doing something for so long, uh yeah. Bobby was like, you know, if you feel like this is what you need, and if you feel good, let's just do it. Yeah. So then we just put that session in, and then we would have one session of uh power and resistance work on the destroy, and then we would have another session where we do um body weight sprints. Try to just try to swim with uh my body weight. So whatever I swim, uh whatever I did on in the gym and on the destroyer, I will try to uh replicate that on my body weight because when you're stronger and when you're more mobile, your technique tends to change a little bit. So um being so close to competition, uh that is something that we don't want to lose. Yeah. So that was really just some of the guidelines that we were following, and we were very fluid in our training sessions. You know, sometimes I might feel like, oh, I put my neck in the gym, like I can't train for like three days. You know, like all these things have to be like so fluid, and and you know, the coach and the athlete, both of us, we need to have accountability on our own as well. And it's not like I'm, you know, I'm like stacking off, right? Or like I tell Bobby like I can't come in today because I put my neck in. And it's really because I put my neck, it's it's not because I'm trying to get out of training, right? So like the trust and everything has to be there, uh, and we're not young anymore. So if we don't want to do something properly, then then don't do it at all. Right? Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 18:40

I I think it's so interesting that you you've touched on um you're following a similar sort of path to CAM, but because you're female, it's slightly different. And there's sort of the the difference between the fitness and the power is going to be different for male and female because of the muscle muscle structure as well. Um so I I think that's really interesting that you're playing around with that. You're aware of it. You you know, you and Bobby are working on that. Are you worried are you ever worried that you're you're going to let too much fitness come off?

Amanda Lim: 19:13

Yeah, for sure. That was a huge, that was actually one of the huge mental blocks that I had to get through, especially in the first the first few months where we're training together, because then I would get to the pool, right? And I'll be suiting up every day, I'll be doing uh two or three 35 uh dive maxes, and that would be it. And then I'll feel like I didn't get any training done. Yes. Like how am I supposed to how am I supposed to sprint fast when I barely swam? Right? So that is the mindset and mental shift. Yes. Yes, that's the mental shift that we need to have. Like, but but with that being said, like everyone is different. Um, like I've only figured that out a few months in. Then after a few races, and then we were like, you know, like this is not working. Like, what do we need to change? Um, and yeah, like with the female body, it's it's so different compared to the male. Like, sometimes we don't even have the answers for ourselves. Yes, yeah, exactly. Yeah, right. Yeah. So I think like for a male athlete, uh, there is a lot less um variations uh that could vary day by day. Like the way they feel in the pool. Actually, I can't really feel I can't really speak for them, but this is just what I I'm thinking. What you'd say. Like they can, yeah, like like they can feel the same every day without much of a drop in shift or feel or whatever. But for females, you know, especially when you're going through your period and everything like that, just close everything out the window. And then you feel more bloated, and then like, what am I gonna do? And things like that. Um, a lot of people talk about uh you know adjusting to your cycle, you know, like during the first half you do this, second half you do that. But for I feel like for female athletes, we are at less of a privilege to do that because you have to race no matter which part of the cycle you're in. Yes, right? So so then you kind of have to go through that during training as well. Yeah. So like a lot of people put up a lot of content, you know, uh on social media talking about adjust uh syncing your training cycle with your period cycle. Yeah, which it's it's it's very difficult and and everyone is different, right? Yes, yeah. And for me as a strength-based athlete, like when I feel strong, that's when I feel good in the water. Um, like how much strength, what do I do? And and um how do like how much do I swim? Like what do I do in the pool, right? Yeah, so yeah, those are very big questions that I that I'm still answering myself.

Danielle Spurling: 22:02

You're still answering them. I know. I think that's a that's a lifelong thing that happens. I'm still answering them myself as well. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean, with with you with your side, your monthly cycle, you I mean, you don't know whether the next competition is going to be when when you've got your period. So you you have to be able to race and train during that time as well, don't you? So yeah.

Amanda Lim: 22:24

That's a difficulty.

Danielle Spurling: 22:25

Yeah.

Amanda Lim: 22:26

That's a difficulty, but I mean, if we're being dealt with that hand, then you just have to deal with it, right? And and I think we could we could use that to our to our advantage as well. You know, if if if the cycle fits nicely with the competition schedule, oh that's that's great. Actually, that was me during C games, like it really aligned pretty well, and I would say like that really gave me the confidence boost as well, because I knew that I my body is prime for that. I mean, physiologically, uh yeah, I mean in terms of my body, but I kind of also knew that I wasn't my body wasn't um like tapered and it wasn't at the maximum level that I could get to yet, just because of the training cycle that I'm in. Um, yeah, but I walked away from that with a lot of uh feedback and and benefits as well. Like I did from my uh race analysis, I actually did uh zero to 35. My first 35 meters was basically a personal best.

Danielle Spurling: 23:31

That's wonderful.

Amanda Lim: 23:32

Yeah, and that is me not putting emphasis in the pool, only in the gym. In the gym, right? Yes, yeah, in the gym. And then the rates and everything kind of dropped off in the last 15 meters, and and and Cam actually um said that that is actually happening to him as well. And the last 15, yeah, and like the last 15 will come, um, you know, once we go into the power block, once we go into the endurance block, and once like neurally we are more fresh, because in the gym it takes up a lot of uh uh uh neural uh capacity, and and that takes a long time to recover. And I was under a lot of neural load during the first few months of trying out this new program because everything that I did was that 100%. There isn't so I was doing three uh three swim sessions, and every swim session was very mentally taxing, you know, in terms of technique work or or you know, on the destroy or like just max out sprint sessions, right? All of this work, I was just going 100% all the time. And then when I finally met him in April, you know, he was asking me about the work I was doing in Singapore leading up, and then he was like, mate, you're just too tired. Yeah, and and and I and slowly I understood that because even though I wasn't doing as as many swim sessions, but every time when I'm in the pool, I'm just going at 110%. Like my stroke rate would be at 64 all the time because that's my racing stroke rate, right? I race between 64 and 61. And and that and that just to me uh is like to to reach top speed, I need to be at that stroke rate. So then my arms would be going at that stroke rate for 90 minutes for like every like every week, like three or four times a week, and that and a few weeks of that, you're just gonna be so tired. Yes. Yeah. So then I had to experience that in order to learn and to also understand myself, um, so that I don't get the mental block uh during the training phase, right? I I won't feel like I am not doing enough. Honestly, I feel like I'm still I'm not a hundred percent over it now. Like, for example, I am maybe three and a half weeks. It has been three and a half weeks since my race in C games, and I really feel like I I I should be doing something. You know, so yeah, actually, I just sat down with Bobby this morning, you know, to plan out my my new year. Um, yeah, I really feel like I want to get back in the gym and and I I I need to continue like I need to just do something. If not, I just feel like things are like I'm getting unfit and all my work is gonna go to waste. Yeah, so uh still still still getting through that. Still getting through that.

Danielle Spurling: 26:26

Yeah, well that that's a mindset thing, isn't it, as well?

Amanda Lim: 26:29

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a mindset thing.

Danielle Spurling: 26:31

Yeah. When I had Bobby on the podcast, he talked about how long long course 50 meter success comes down to holding your stroke rate, as you, as you mentioned. What sort of cues or metrics do you use? Sort of that you take into the race so that that last 15 meters can stay at that same stroke rate you had in the first 35?

Amanda Lim: 26:54

Yeah, so I didn't hold my stroke rate in the last 15. I think I was um I think I was 60, 64, 61 at 35 meters, and then the last 15, I dropped down to 58 or 59. If I yeah, 58. Um ideally, I would want to keep that up above 60 all the time. So when I did my uh best time actually last year, which was a 2494, my stroke rate was 64 um and 61. I was above 60 throughout. And one funny thing also was that I've always done my 50 meters freestyle uh with no breath. So I would not take a breath. Yeah, so I'll just do it um just no breathing, right? But when I was in Australia, this is I'm talking about this maybe in 2024. Yeah, yeah. So I actually had a six month training block in Brisbane uh in 2024. Um, but I wasn't training with him then. Um it was kind of like my first exposure to uh Australia training. I was training with David Lush at Morton Bay College. Um and I was uh and my strength program was by Tom Button from the Health Collab, he's also my physiotherapist. He basically said, mate, you need to breathe. And I was like, why? Because people like the misconception about it is once you breathe, you're gonna lose the streamline, that's you're gonna create more drag, you know. But the thing is the female body works differently in a sense whereby like our race already takes um a longer time, 25 seconds compared to 24, 25 seconds, right? Compared to a male's race, which is 21 seconds, 22 seconds. And and just in that very short two to three seconds, it's it's a lot of um difference, you know, in terms of the the the ATT system, the energy system, the metabolic system. So then I was like, uh okay, I'll I'll I'll try with that one breath. And I did, I did that one breath at uh last year when I was trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics back in Singapore, and I did the best time 24-9. I finally broke the 25 seconds with one breath, right? One people, yeah. So like with with like people is gonna think that no breath is usually faster, but when I took a breath, I I was actually faster. So that's so interesting, yeah. Yeah, so actually breathing, I mean, because your muscles are fueled by oxygen. So it's actually, if you put it in science um explanation, it's actually a no-brainer. Your muscles need oxygen to work, and if you're deprived of oxygen, everything's gonna fall apart. And the last 15 and the last five is the most important race in the 50 meters, how you touch, how you finish, um, how you hold your stroke together in the last 15 meters. So I was like, okay, you know, if I've been doing that for so long, I will just try this something out. Uh I'll I'll just try this out because I mean, honestly, there is really nothing to lose at that point. And also knowing that you have one breath in a 50 actually helps you in the race. I mean, coming from someone who doesn't breathe the whole 50, you you being like needing to breathe in one needing to take one breath in a 50 already takes the pressure away from holding my breath, right? So that really helps a lot. Uh, and I also took a breath at Sea Games when I did the 25-0. So honestly, I mean, it really comes down to every stroke. Uh, I know exactly at which stroke I need to breathe, and you just keep training that. It has to be a quick breath and it has to be a smooth transition, it it doesn't so that it doesn't um change your body position on the water. You just need one breath and you just keep just keep training that. Yeah. Honestly, I haven't really perfect my breath yet because we didn't really, you know, uh swim past 35 meters. I mean, I mean at race speed, at race speed, right? So, for example, like a dive uh session for me would be maybe I stood up and then it would be like a dive session, and I I do a dive 25 meters at submax, you know, at 95%. And then I do another dive 25 meters at maximal effort, and then I do a dive 35, but we don't say it as 35 meters, we we we say it like just dive 29 strokes. Yeah, okay, yeah. Yeah, so 29 strokes is actually when I take my breath. Um, and then after I take my breath, I'll just go a few more. That's it, just to just to train that breathing pattern and how I breathe and just to get a feel for it. Yeah. So I haven't really, you know, touched the last 15 meters of my race yet. After the breath, like what's gonna happen? Like that's gonna happen maybe in somewhere, I think maybe March, April. That's when we are gonna shift our focus from the gym into the pool. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 32:08

Okay. And have you changed your stroke much with this new way of training? Or is that is your techniques stayed the same?

Amanda Lim: 32:16

Uh no, I would say that actually my strokes changed a little bit just because I have uh better mobility. Um and you know, with how I'm structured, um compared to Cam, you know, he has very hyper-extended elbows, you know, he's very mobile uh in his upper body, which was hard work because he wasn't such an athlete, right? It's it's it's just all the hard work that he put in for mobility. And then I got in touch with his strength and mobility coach. So actually, we are kind of on a similar strength program. And I think that really helps because he works with Cam and then you know they they they do their whole training block. He he learns whatever that's happening with Cam and then he brings that into my program as well, and and he also and he also sees other athletes, not just swimming. And I feel like that is such a fresh uh perspective for me because you know, some when someone is so jaded by swimming, and and when and and when there's when when he is just doing swimming for so long, um, they tend to just be there's only one way to do something. But with with Matt coming in, uh Matt is his name, Matt Smith, he's actually based in Portugal. Yeah, so with Matt coming in, uh he offers like a whole different uh feedback, whole different perspective on what strength actually is and actually what mobility actually is, right? You can be very strong, but if you have no control over your strokes, you're not strong at all. Right. So then it's it's how do I um get more mobile, you know, with the overhead strokes, with the high elbow, uh and and and it's just all this knowledge that I don't have. Um and it's you know, when we talk about mobility, everyone thinks that it's just stretching, right? But but it's actually not that like there's a a phase to go through that, there's like a procedure, there's like tests to do, there are ways to train that muscle, like what kind of muscle is actually utilized for swimming. Like he he he comes in with those experiences and perspective, and he works together with Bobby and I to work on my weaknesses. And I think like that is actually how it changes my stroke. Like I can feel it in the pool when I'm swimming, not so much when I look at the video analysis, right? So, one of the things that we really tried to change um in the past few, like the first few months where we started swimming together was actually like my high elbow catch. Because from video analysis, especially from the front view, we could see that I had a pretty straight, straight down catch underwater. Um, but technically we want to direct the water backwards, right? And then if you want to do that, you need to have like a lot of mobility in the high elbow, you need you need to have like a lot of uh scapular motion. Um, and you can do that on land, and when you're in the pool, it's a totally different thing because then you need to hold the water, right? There's no resistance for you to uh kind of like fight against for you to get into that position. So that is my biggest challenge, but I can feel that I'm actually holding more water, so that is actually a very big uh change for me, and knowing how to hold on to that water uh for the whole 50, because then you kind of get, I guess, you will feel more tired in the sense whereby, like because every stroke is heavier because you're holding water, as compared to you know, you just want to spin your arms, right? Obviously, you when you just spin your arms, you get a high stroke rate, but you're not going anywhere. Um, so that really helped, and you know, just getting me more athletic, um, being able to jump higher, jump further, uh, like that really helped with my dive and how I hold my underwater. Um, how do I be like, how do I keep myself patient and not wanting to just get up and swim? Because I have a very weak underwater phase. Like I only do four underwater kicks. You know, I don't max out, yeah, I don't max out the whole 15 meters just because like my underwater kick is just so bad. So then, like, what do we have to do to make sure that I hold because my off the blocks is great, my dive is great. It's just that the moment I hit the water, I need to be able to transfer the speed, hold the line, and do my four underwater kicks and get out. And how do I break out is also um mobility, you know, uh, how do I make sure that everything flows? Yeah, so like I was just really just focusing on the first 15 of my race for this prep. And you know, from the analysis that I had, I actually shaved off like 0.1 seconds, which is actually quite a lot.

Danielle Spurling: 37:14

That's a lot for the first 15, yeah.

Amanda Lim: 37:17

Yeah, and and for the C games, actually for all my races, right? Uh, if you watch videos, I would usually come up like a little bit behind everybody in a 15, and then like I I would play catch up. I'll play catch up because the swimming part is where I'm good at. The first 15 is actually where I'm really bad at. So I would do catch up for the 50, but at the C games, it it is pretty clear from the video analysis that I was actually on par with my competitors, and and yeah, that that is like a big visual um um thing for me to say that hey, like I'm actually getting better in in my first 15 because sometimes you know you you can feel that you're faster and things like that, but it doesn't translate into the pool. And that doesn't, and sometimes you just need to see it, right? Yeah, you just need to see it and and yeah, so so that was actually yeah, the techniques that I feel like it just came with the mobility and also being more aware of my strokes and just telling myself to just slow down a little bit because I just want to go a hundred percent all the time, right? But I need to raise that 98% because when I go at 100%, it's just too much.

Danielle Spurling: 38:29

Yeah, I I watched your video just earlier of um your your gold at the Sierra games and the com the commentator actually says Amanda Lim's up in front. So that was straight off uh after you broke out. So you were in front and you yeah, you stayed there the whole time. So obviously what you're doing in the gym and in the pool is working so well.

Amanda Lim: 38:51

Yeah. I mean, like I just did a series of uh reprofiling tests for Matt, you know, just to for him to plan out what the next 10 months look like. And you know, I could see that because we have done assessments prior to studying before, so I could see that there is really a jump in whatever that I did last time compared to now. And I'm studying my strength block right now with a max weighted pull up of 40 kilos. So I could yeah, so then that's uh pretty that's pretty big weight, I think, especially for uh like for women. And and I feel like I'm definitely not at my maximum strength yet. Right. So then once we hit maximum strength for me, once you know we we start to fill the bucket with everything, and then like how are we going to translate the strength that I have from the gym into the pool? How like how do I maintain the strength and then you know place the emphasis into the pool?

Danielle Spurling: 39:52

Yeah, that that's that's the interesting part of it. I love the scientific side side of it. And so I can tell that you do too, because you you're passionate about it. Yeah, I think those kind of and when you can see the the games happening, yeah, you get more excited about it.

Amanda Lim: 40:06

Yeah, exactly. And and honestly, prior to my swim at the sea games, I wasn't really confident on like I I just didn't know what to I just didn't know what to expect at the Sea Games, you know, just because prior to Sea Games, my last race was at World of Quotics Masters when I did 26-0. You know, that that that swim was uh I get I think that was the the the trigger point for Bobby and I. We were like, okay, something needs to change because initially before swimming, the before swimming the world masters, um, Bobby asked me, like, it didn't even cross my mind to swim masters at Singapore. And then he was like, hey, why not? You could you could get the world record. And then I looked at the world record, it was like a 25, I can't remember, I think it was the 25-3 or 25-5. And then I was like, oh yeah, I could I could do that easy. But who knows? I did a 26-0, right? And then I was like, oh my god, what's happening? But I mean, in my defense after World in Singapore, you know, I was pretty much like my mental headspace wasn't in the pool anymore. But I was still trying really hard to keep my mind there because I knew that I have to still swim at Masters. But for the rest of my teammates, you know, they were all like on break, but I still had to, you know, maintain a certain level of swimming. And I couldn't really go back to the gym because then I don't want to get too sore from the gym. Yeah, so then like that it was a pretty hard time navigating like uh masters. Uh, but we swam that um as we just need we just needed data for myself because the masters was a week out from the actual world champs, and then we were like, who knows, maybe I will go faster. So if I went faster, that just means that maybe I tapered too early, right? If I went slower, and then we were like, okay, like something needs to change, right? So so I wouldn't say that it was a wasted swim. I mean, I still came away with a gold medal, and I'm really happy with that. My first ever Masters race. Um, and yeah, so like that also gave us a lot of information on how I need to plan my program properly. Yeah. So actually going into the C games, I wasn't, I really didn't know where I was at because that was the last swim that I had. But I could see the gains that I've done in the gym. I was I was uh I was pulling a lot more weight for my pull-ups, and another interesting thing that really stood out was uh we like we get force plates uh jump testings in pretty often. Have you seen those? It's like the VLAT the um the force pad and you jump and it measures your your yeah, you have to like it measures your jump height and it measures your uh like your power. Yeah, your force, yeah, yeah. Um and the last time I did that was actually in uh March, I think last year. And then I did that again before I left for the C games in December. And I was jumping like 20 cm higher. Wow. And so I was so I was like, yeah, so I was like, wow, that's that's a lot. And you know, Bobby and I, and together with Tom, Tom is um the SNC coach in Tang Ling Tra school, which he helps me out with all these testings. Um yeah, he would they were like, Were you even jumping in March? I was like, I don't know, I thought I did, right? So, so like that gave me confidence, and I could feel uh that when I when I'm diving on off the blocks as well. Like Bobby would give me comments and feedback like, hey, like you look really athletic off the blocks now. Like, you know, I'm jumping further, it looks lighter, my splashes are lesser. Um, yeah, so like all these things I feel like especially for master swimmers or like for elite, elite older swimmers, um, we really need these check-in points, you know, to tell us where we are at, and then you know, it even gives you like confidence to boost. Yeah. Yeah. And it yeah, and it all plays a part, right? Because the biggest thing about competition or like races is actually just the mindset. Like if you know that you have improved um in other areas, that honestly, there isn't really anything else that uh would make you feel like you'll go slower. Yeah, so like that was actually what Bobby told me. He was like, Hey, you are like too much stronger in the gym, like the worse you swim, yeah, good, yeah, you're not gonna be slower than wolves. And I'm like, that's true, right? Yeah, and then we we put on a suit, and then like I was doing training PBs, and then I was like, Oh, okay, this is pretty cool.

Danielle Spurling: 44:53

Yeah. How how often do you um do a suited a suited trial?

Amanda Lim: 44:59

Uh a training every few weeks or every week, or uh we I just we just had this conversation today. So when I first started this training, uh when I first started this new training program, we were doing it every week. Like we would do it the first session of every week, which is actually what Cam is doing as well, um, just to have a check-in on where we are at at the start of every week. Yeah, so we will do that for we did that for like a good few months, but it wasn't really working for me because then I would feel like, oh, I didn't even like train, like why would I want to suit up? And then when I suit up, you know, technically, typically during a suit up session, it takes very long, and you know, I get tired mentally, and then I'll be thinking, like, I I there's no point of me suiting up right now because like I feel like I haven't even trained. So we actually stepped away from that because I get pretty like I get pretty angry with with um yeah, with like during that period of time, like I wasn't in a very good state, and Bobby could see it in my face. Like in the past when I was training in a team, you know, I could take it out on my teammates by like you know, beating them or like you know, like just saying things like, oh, why are you saving up for the last one? And things like that. But now I'm training alone, right? So then I I just there's there's there's no um outlet for me. And I think Bobby could see that, and also because he uses the auto coach, so it's an electronic timing device. So all of the times that he gives me are well, he always tells me truth hurts. Right? Because sometimes you get pretty fast times. You have coaches who give you fast times and you feel good from it, but like, do you want a time which is accurate or like do you want a time that that makes you feel good? But I think like there's a balance, right? As a coach, I mean I'm I'm not a coach, but I think as a coach, you would depending on which season you're at, you would want your athlete to feel a certain way. Yeah, so I would get very angry from the dive sessions because my times were just so slow, and then I'm like, what is happening? Right, and then I think we we realized that that wasn't working, so we we we stepped away from the suited sessions for a bit and replaced that just with technical work, you know, just with some swimming for me, just to feel good. And and and I think that and and that actually works. And I think before C Games, we only suited we only suited up actually when I was in Brisbane, we would suit up once a week as well. Yeah, we would suit up once a week, but I was swimming a little bit more than every day. I was swimming like I swam every day, right? And then every week we would go into uh QAS and then we would do testings and just very cool infrastructure right there. Um, and a very interesting thing that picked up was during my last uh suited session at QAS, um we did what did we do? We did three dives 25s, right? And the first one I just wanted to see where I'm at where I'm at um when I'm going sub-maximal and just maximal because a lot of times I would feel better and get faster time when I'm at submax. And then when I when I go max uh maximal effort, like you know, rates are high and I'm sleeping and times are typically slower. And truth to be told, like that was the case. So like my first submax dive 25, I was uh 11.52, and this is very accurate timing because it's it's just like video analysis, right? And then when I went, uh and then when I went the next one when I went maximal effort, I was like 11.6, and then it was 11.7, and then I was like, oh, okay. But this is good for me because then I can see it and I can understand it. And I think only finally now then I accepted the fact that by going slower, I'm actually going faster. Just not not slower, just being patient on things, you know, just being patient with my streamlined underwater, just being patient with my high obey catch. It's just very small cues like that that help me, you know, go sub-maximal. And and you know, in a 50, you know, when we talk about going sub-max, if yeah, like for example, if my best time for a 25 is uh 11.4, I mean, for example, then a sub-max might be 11.5 or 11.6, and that's very hard to gauge and feel. But Cam does it really well. It is crazy how he does that. Like at training, right, he would just do a dive 25, and then like the bio uh the biomechanics would be like, guess your time, and then he'll be like 9.37, and then they'll be like, Yep, 9.37. And then I was like, Whoa, I'd just be mind-blown at that, right?

Danielle Spurling: 50:00

Yeah, so I know he's uh he's remarkable, isn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amanda Lim: 50:06

He's uh yeah, super cool, dude. Um, super nice, you know. He he he's not afraid to share what he has learned, you know, his knowledge, and and having the privilege to swim with him, to train with him, and to actually exchange his thoughts and feedback. Um, like it really helps a lot. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 50:23

Yeah, he's a very generous person, like sharing all this because he's sharing it with all his competitors as well.

Amanda Lim: 50:30

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean, yes, uh, yeah, I think for me, I don't see it that much as like sharing it, sharing it with my competitors because I see it as really like a new era of swimming. Yeah, a new frontier. It's it's really a new frontier, and and it's uh, I don't know, there's still so much that is left uh to be discovered, um, especially when we try and um pick what Cam has learned, and then we try and fine-tune it to like the female body, right? It is just so it's just so different. Like, I don't think there is another female that is working with him that is trying this out. Uh yeah, so I might be the only one. Oh no, there's a Japanese swimmer in Brisbane that I train with as well when I go over. Yeah, but but I'm not sure if she's kind of like following exactly like I would say I'm maybe 90% or 90 to 95% similar with what Cam is doing, just a little few uh bit of a twigs here and there. So it's actually my goal and my aim to try and share this knowledge as well. And you know, and honestly, the Masters community is the perfect community to be on this kind of program, right? Because you're older, you have less time, you have less time commitments to do all these things, and and when you have the right knowledge and people that's guiding you, I think it's pretty interesting. And you guys are a very big community with people who support one another. Yeah, I feel like there's endless opportunity right there. Like even for me right now, I'm I'm I'm still learning. Like, I wouldn't say that I'm the pro at it, but I've gone through a little bit of it and you know what I've what I've learned and what I've felt. Yeah, hopefully it helps people around the world and and also especially in Singapore when when our culture is still very much you know the traditional way of training, and then we struggle with long-term developments of swimmers, you know, like can that be changed? You know, people they are experiencing burnouts when they are in teenagers, especially when they go into university, like how do we keep them in the spot? Like, hopefully, like things like this and what I'm doing kind of inspire, inspires them and motivates them um to know that there is that isn't that that there isn't just one way to do things, you know, you can try out different things and and yeah, there's just opportunities out there and people out there who are willing to help you.

Danielle Spurling: 53:07

Do you see yourself doing any more masters competitions? Like, are you gonna go for that 50 free world record in Masters?

Amanda Lim: 53:15

When is I think the next World Masters is in is in Budapest after no, no, not till 2027 after the elites, but all always goes after but there's a worldmasters games, right?

Danielle Spurling: 53:32

Oh, there's a world masters games, but I think that's also 2027 in um Kenzai in Japan.

Amanda Lim: 53:40

Oh, okay, okay. No, I mean I just thought it was there because I was just speaking to one of our um Singapore uh SNC coach, and he is a check and feel sprinter. Uh, and he told me that he was going for the World Masters Games in July or something.

Danielle Spurling: 53:57

The World Masters there's an athletic, the Athletics One, but it's not spinning. It's just the athletics.

Amanda Lim: 54:02

Okay, so so it's just they they alternate. I see, so it's just athletics. I thought when he meant World Masters Games, it just means that all the sports will do it.

Danielle Spurling: 54:12

No, no, no. So yeah, they they brought it into line with so world aquatics, so it always runs after the elites in 2027. Yeah, yeah.

Amanda Lim: 54:23

I uh I don't know if I'm going to do World Champs next year in Budapest. Um, like right now, like I'm just like laser focused on Asian games, right? Like that is just what I want to uh do for this year and next year, let's see. Let's see how I do at Asian Games. Like, if I feel like if I have the capacity to go on, um, and I I feel like there's still a lot more room for improvements, and that there is still a lot of things that I want to explore with the 53, my body, my stroke. I don't see why not.

Danielle Spurling: 54:57

Yeah.

Amanda Lim: 54:58

I don't see why not.

Danielle Spurling: 54:59

Do you think you might hang around to try out for LA Olympics? Is that too far down the line? Too far away.

Amanda Lim: 55:07

That's too far down the line. But I I wouldn't I wouldn't say no. Um, because if this but if this should because if this training is working for me, it can work, you know, juggling my work, juggling, juggling family, like the only thing that I need to solve is the funding issues because I'm self-funded in Singapore. So then no being able, so like being able to do all these trainings in Australia and everything, it takes it requires a lot of money. It requires a lot of money, yeah. A lot. Yeah. Yeah, but it's but it's uh, you know, I see it as a way whereby like you know how people spend their money every year on holidays. I just spend them on training camps. I love that. Yeah. I mean, I love Australia, so every time when I go back to Australia, I feel like I'm less stressed, you know, like the clouds are bluer, the air is fresher, you know, the vibes are just more chill. So honestly, that's a very good holiday for me. And I like routine and you know, being able to train with people, with good people, having good conversations.

Danielle Spurling: 56:13

Well, Amanda, everyone that comes on the podcast, I like to ask them a deep dive five, which is sort of five quick answer questions. No, no worries about it. Just the first thing that pops into your mind. So, one training set that best represents how you train now.

Amanda Lim: 56:30

Oh, destroy, definitely. For example, like we would go heavy on the destro for maybe like three at 120 pounds, like just max maximal effort, and then we would go down the pyramid, and then we would decrease that to 80 pounds, 60 pounds, 40 pounds, and then eventually body weight, and then eventually putting on fins. Yeah. And then we'll do that like two or three times, uh, two or three times, depending on how I feel. Like if I feel like my strokes are uh are falling apart and my rates are it's very difficult to hit my rates um anymore, then yeah, I'll call it a day. But definitely that.

Danielle Spurling: 57:12

That's a good one. Yeah. How about one strength, one strength or power exercise that's made the biggest difference to your strength?

Amanda Lim: 57:21

Honestly, I think that would be definitely the pull-ups, like having like not having any limitations on that. Because for a part of my swimming career, I think like last year, um, I was under the impression of like I am too strong for the pool. So that is where, yeah, so that was how I decreased my gym from three sessions to two sessions, and then what I did in the gym wasn't maximal lifting, it was just a little bit above average lifting, and then I tried to be fast in that motion for that weight, yeah. And then and then after that, we realized that that wasn't really working out for me, and then we just went the opposite direction. So, yeah, just like going 100% in the gym and just lifting heavy weights as like as heavy as I can.

Danielle Spurling: 58:10

Yes, yeah.

Amanda Lim: 58:12

And how about your favorite freestyle drill? Favorite freestyle drill. Okay, so recently I learned this from him in in Brisbane. Um, so it's we would go, I forgot what the drill was called. I think it was called I I I can't remember what it was called, but basically we would go, you put on fins, and you can you you you can put on pedals as well, but recently I've been trying not to use um too much equipment in my fast swimming because I swim super well with fins and pedals. Like I look like a completely different athlete. Like I'm on top of the water, I hold water because I'm strong, right? And and there's resistance for me to fight against in a pool. So once you take off the pedals, I feel like there's nothing on my hands. So then some so that is what actually one of the biggest changes that I've done to not use so much pedals. And even if I was using pedals, it would be a smaller one compared to big ones that I've used last time. Interesting, yeah. Yeah, so it's fins. Uh so what you do is you go three strokes at really maximal effort, like one, two, three, and you like blast your your kick, and then on your third stroke, right? You would hold, just hold and glide. So get that feeling of holding the water and feeling the speed, and then you go again for three strokes and then you hold. So I usually have a snorkel on, and it's usually better to do it in a 50-meter pool, but I mean, no problem if you're in a short course pool, you just gotta turn around. Um, so I go in, I go for like 35 meters and then just like swim easy the rest because it is very tiring because you're going maximal effort for your kick and your pull. So, like what you want to achieve from that is to feel the speed when you're fast and holding the line. And it's especially good for uh the finishes. That's that's a great one.

Danielle Spurling: 59:57

I love that one.

Amanda Lim: 59:58

Yeah, yeah. How bad that one's good.

Danielle Spurling: 1:00:00

One recovery habit that you would never compromise on?

Amanda Lim: 1:00:05

Oh, so this is such a simple question. Definitely sleep. Sleep. Yes. I mean it's a very easy answer, but I often often, especially the younger people, right? Like I've been trying to tell them that sleep is so important. But obviously at that age, everyone thinks that they are, you know, their gods and they can do without sleep, and sleep is for the week. But right now, like if I don't get uh let's say eight hours in, I'd be so tired the next day. Yeah, like for me, I I sleep a lot. Like a good night's sleep for me would be between eight to ten hours. Yeah. So that is definitely needed for recovery.

Danielle Spurling: 1:00:49

And last question: who's a swimmer that you most admire? It might be, I suppose we've talked about Cam a lot. Yeah, well, I think right now it has to be Cam.

Amanda Lim: 1:00:59

Has to be Cam. Yeah, right now, yeah, it definitely is Cam. Uh, honestly, I I don't really have, you know, while growing up, people would ask me who are my role models like in the swimming community, right? Um I wouldn't say like I follow someone closely uh to the extent of that they are my role model. Um, but maybe this is also me coming from the perspective of um that I'm also good. So like trying to put ourselves on the same pedestal, you know. I don't know, maybe it's kind of like a confidence thing. So we don't like I I've never really like uh follow someone a lot, but I I think Sarah Shostram, Sarah Rostrum from Sweden, because I've seen her race since Youth Olympic Games in 2010. Yeah, yeah. So like I was part of the Youth Olympics team as well, and we're actually the same age. Yeah. So then, yeah, so so I know actually she's one year older than me, she's 92, and I'm like 93. So we I see ourselves pretty similar in a way whereby like she's such a strong athlete as well, right? Like our swimming style is pretty similar, yeah. Like her first 15 is also not that great, so she would go down and she would she would uh try and break out of the water as soon as possible. So I see us having some sort of similarity there, but she like her training program and everything, it's it's she trains for the 100 and she still goes like 1551 in 100 meters. I know that's crazy, yeah, yeah. But for yeah, but for now it's definitely care because of like the amount of research that he has done um for this and how he has experimented with it and how he can explain to me why he's doing a certain thing. Uh and and I think right now, uh at this phase, it's understanding what you're doing and believing in what you're doing is so important to success as well. Yeah, if you're doubting anything, then that's not gonna work out.

Danielle Spurling: 1:03:11

Amanda, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing all of that with us. Um, I think all of our listeners are going to really enjoy hearing about your journey and wishing you every success with the Asia games coming up later in the year. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me. It was fun. You're welcome. Okay then. Take care. Thank you. Goodbye. Thanks for tuning in to Torpedo Swim Talk, the podcast celebrating swimmers at every stage. If you enjoyed this chat, hit follow or subscribe on your favorite platform and give us a quick review. It goes a long way to helping more swimmers find the show. Until next time, happy swimming and bye for now.