SINGAPORE — Keep an eye on young national swimmers Dylan Koo, Glen Lim, Hoong En Qi and Kathlyn Laiu at this week’s Singapore leg of the Fina/Airweave Swimming World Cup that will be held at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

For while they are not likely to win any medals, and are nowhere as well-known as their seniors Joseph Schooling, Quah Zheng Wen and Tao Li, who have flown Singapore’s flag with distinction at the Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games, they are being tipped by the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) to help lead the Republic’s quest at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

According to the SSA, the quartet are part of a pool of promising young swimmers who have been identified as potential semi-finalists and finalists at the 2020 Olympics, and even medal contenders in the 2024 Games.

Long-term development plans are also being drawn up for this group of talented youngsters, which includes coming up with an individualised programme for each swimmer based on their needs, organising more competitions against tough opponents to emulate the United States collegiate system, and working more closely with strong swimming nations such as Japan.

National swimming assistant coach Gary Tan said: “One thing Singapore is good at especially is our junior swimmers, and it is important to think of a long-term athlete development plan for them, and really work on their fundamentals.

“Part of the reason why Joseph and Zheng Wen are so strong is because they have a long-term perspective in their swimming careers.

“These four swimmers are good and could make up the future for Singapore swimming and, along with other young ones, we have very strong depth in our pipeline.”

For example, Tan describes 17-year-old Dylan as one who is “following in the footsteps” of Quah and Schooling.

Ever since he clocked a minute-flat in the 100m butterfly five years ago, a time which placed him second among American boys aged 11-12 years, Dylan has been steadily lowering his 100m fly time to his current personal best of 54.20s.

The Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student is well aware that if he can continue his rate of improvement, he will be able to come close to the 50.39s that Schooling clocked to win the Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games in August.

And Dylan is determined to make it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after missing out on the 2016 Olympics “B” qualifying time in the 100m fly by 0.01s in March.

“I want to represent Singapore at the 2020 Olympics, and making a final then would be a big accomplishment for me,” he told TODAY. “I think it’s definitely possible, as I look at Zheng Wen (who made two semi-finals at the 2016 Olympics) who is produced from the local system.

“Also, something that has always stuck in my mind, which I’ve never really voiced out, is that I want to get a gold medal at the Olympics.”

Another 17-year-old who has been making waves in the pool since she was 12 is En Qi. She first stood out at the 2012 National Schools Swimming Championships when she took the girls’ C Division 50m freestyle gold in 27.58s — a time that was faster than the winning times in the A and B finals.

Last August, the lanky swimmer clocked 27.32s in the 50m butterfly at the Fina World Junior Championships to finish a creditable 13th out of 66 swimmers.

En Qi is looking to emulate her role model, Tao Li, who won the 50m butterfly gold at the 2010 Asian Games in a Games record time of 26.10s, and Tan believes his young charge has the ability to go as far as the two-time Asian Games champion.

“In fact, she has the same ability as Tao Li,” he said. “She just needs to believe in herself more. That was one of the things that stood out with Tao Li — her tremendous self-belief.”

Tan also singled out Glen as another swimmer to watch. The 14-year-old Raffles Institution swimmer is shaping up to be a promising distance swimmer and showcased his potential this year by setting new national Under 14 records in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle.

“Now that Teo Zhen Ren (who holds the national records for the 800m and 1,500m freestyle) has left the scene, there are not many swimmers who can and want to do long distance,” said Tan.

“Glen is definitely up and coming, and he is someone we will continue to groom.”

Given its pool of promising juniors, the SSA is also more ocnfident of fielding relay teams that will not only qualify for the Olympics but also reach the semi-finals.

“The biggest target now is actually on the relays at the Olympics. Our kids have a very decent chance of putting up relay teams and making it to the top 16 or top eight there,” said Tan.

“Also, the girls are very much looking like the surprise package in 2020.

“People tend to underestimate the girls (because of the attention on Quah and Schooling), but we have a very talented and disciplined group of girls. They are really disciplined and passionate and will fight for Olympic qualification in the next few editions. The future is potentially bright because we have promising swimmers in almost every field.”