Tao Li

Following her success at the 1st Hong Kong Open Invitational Championships, she took home four gold medals and was named the most outstanding female swimmer, At the 23rd SEA Games held in the Philippines later that year, she won gold for the 100 metres backstroke, 200 metres butterfly, and 4 x 100 metres medley relay with teammates Ho Shu Yong, Nicolette Teo and Joscelin Yeo.

In March the following year, she won gold in the 50 metres butterfly at the Milo Asia Swimming Championships in Singapore, the Republic's first top award at the competition.

Tao Li (born 10 January 1990) is a Chinese-born Singaporean competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and butterfly.

Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the Asian Games, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Olympics.

She holds several national records and is the only female Singapore swimmer who qualified for an Olympic Final.

Tao Li was born on 10 January 1990 in Wuhan, Hubei, in the People's Republic of China, the only child of Tao Ran and his wife Li Yan, who were both former provincial swimmers in their youths, and later took on careers as swim coaches.

Her early years were spent in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.

She began swimming at the age of five, and by the time she was ten, had begun competitive swimming.

In her first contest she won two gold medals and broke two age-group records.

followed by training at the Aquatic Performance Swim Club (under former Olympian Ang Peng Siong) from 2001.

In 2002, when Tao was 13, her mother brought her to Singapore, to further her career in swimming.

Her father was initially against the idea as she was then training with a provincial swimming team and earning a monthly stipend of RMB 500.

And there was a good chance she might do well enough to join the Chinese national team.

However, they decided to do so after she was deemed too short for the Chinese National team.

Since her parents were not earning much, they faced much difficulty paying for Tao's swim training.

Tao's English was not as good as other students her age, she joined a Primary 5 class in Queenstown Primary School though she was three years older than her classmates.

She found things tough-going.

However, she worked hard and took extra language lessons, and now converses fluently in English.

At the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, at just 15, she won 4 golds and a bronze.

Tao became a Singapore citizen in August 2005.

She reached the finals of the women's 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though she did not win any medal.

In December 2006, Tao won gold at the 50 metres butterfly in Doha's 2006 Asian Games, beating China's multi-gold medallist Xu Yanwei and breaking her own national record in the process.

Apparently a contract dispute in 2006 saw her switching her training to another former Olympian, David Lim, at Swimfast Aquatic Club.

Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and Asian Games.

Between 16 and 21 March 2006 she took part in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, reaching the finals of the 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly, though she did not gain any medals.

In December the same year, Tao won a gold medal at the 50 metres butterfly in Doha's 2006 Asian Games, beating China's multi-gold medallist Xu Yanwei and breaking her own national record in the process.

She won a bronze medal at the 100 metres butterfly earlier in the tournament, recording a national and Asian mark of 58.96 seconds.

Tao became the first Singaporean female swimmer to reach a FINA World Aquatics Championships Final.

She was Singapore's most medalled athlete at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, winning four gold medals.

Earlier in the year, she became the first Singaporean female swimmer to reach a FINA World Aquatics Championships final, finishing seventh in the 50 metres butterfly.

The 2007 World Aquatics Championships were held in Melbourne from 17 March to 1 April 2007, and she finished seventh in the 50 metres butterfly.

Later that year at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, she was Singapore's most medalled athlete at the Games, winning four gold medals in the 100 metres backstroke, 100 and 200 metres butterfly, and 4 x 100 metres medley relay.

Tao made her Olympic début for Singapore at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She qualified in the 100 metres finals, ranking fourth in the semifinals with a time of 57.54 seconds and setting two Asian records in two days.

She thus became the first Singaporean swimmer to qualify in an Olympic final.

She emerged fifth at the women's 100 metres butterfly finals with a time of 57.99 seconds.

In 2008, Tao enrolled at the Singapore Sports School.

She was expected to continue with her education there until she graduates with a diploma in sports science under an arrangement between the school and the Auckland University of Technology.

She trained with the Sports School's swim coach, Peter Churchill.

On 28 June 2008, Tao was named Sportswoman of the Year in the Singapore Sports Awards given out by the Singapore National Olympic Council each year.