SINGAPORE — His personal best timings indicate that he will be, at best, a semi-finalist in all the three swimming events that he has qualified for at this August’s Olympic Games in Rio.

As it stands, Quah Zheng Wen’s PB of 52.25s in the 100m butterfly would have made him the 16th fastest qualifier at the 2012 London Olympics. Similarly, his PBs of 1min 56.26s in the 200m fly and 54.03s in the 100m back would have placed him as the 13th and 12th fastest qualifier, respectively, for the semis of both events.

However, national swimming head coach Sergio Lopez is predicting that his 19-year-old charge — who, like Joseph Schooling, has qualified for three events for Rio — will be a “surprise package” at the Games in August.

Stopping short of predicting exactly how Zheng Wen will fare in Rio, Lopez, who coached Schooling for five years at the Bolles School in Florida in the United States before joining the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) last year, simply said: “I think he will surprise people — let’s just put it that way. If he does what he can do in Rio, he will surprise people in the way that people would not have expected of him.”

Lopez was speaking to TODAY on the sidelines of yesterday’s media event by general insurance company Liberty Insurance to unveil Zheng Wen as its new brand ambassador.

But what is it that has been giving the 1988 Olympic bronze medallist a greater sense of optimism over Zheng Wen? It is the new levels of speed, stamina and mental toughness that the young man has been displaying in recent times, replied Lopez.

“In the last two weeks at Phuket, I think he just really took things to another level,” said Lopez, referring to the training camp that was organised at the Thanyapur Sports and Leisure Club for Singapore’s Olympic-bound swimmers.

“If we can continue to keep him healthy, and have a bit of luck, he can do well. The indicators are very positive. He is now doing things in the water that he has never done. It is not just so much about fast times, but the way he’s holding his strokes now ... and the way he’s able to recover, and come back the following day and challenge other swimmers in practice, is just really good.”

Lopez, 47, thinks that the move to partner Zheng Wen with Rex Tullius, a swimmer from the British Virgin Islands, for training since last November, has also been key to the former’s progress.

Tullius, who specialises in backstroke, joined the SSA’s National Training Centre last November. Previously, he had trained with South African Olympic champion Chad le Clos. According to Lopez, Tullius has helped Zheng Wen improve in his swims, and his confidence.

At yesterday’s event, there were signs that Zheng Wen is also starting to grow in self-belief.

The former Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student not only reiterated his stand that he does not want to be just a “mere participant” at the Olympics, he even hinted that a spot in a final, or even a shot at a medal, is not impossible.

“When you go into a meet of that calibre (Olympics), you can’t really discount anyone. Everyone there is your competitor, everyone has a good chance of swimming fast, and everyone has a good chance of surprising everyone,” he said. “I want to be in the semi-final or even in the final … And in the final, out of eight guys, everyone is so close and anything can happen.”

Zheng Wen and his team-mates will continue training in Singapore next month before flying off to the US to compete in the Indianapolis Grand Prix in June. He has also been pencilled in for a meet and a training camp in Florida after that.

Singapore’s swimmers will then base themselves in Florida before arriving in Rio nine days before the start of the Olympics swimming competition.