“Almost Quitting, ”Lessons from an Olympian: Daniel C.K. Tam

This piece was written by Outreach Associate Patrick Zhang.

Daniel Tam was an Olympic swimmer for Hong Kong, swimming breaststroke at both the 2000 Sydney Olympic games and the 2004 Athens Olympics. While having lunch with Tam, he shared with me some insights about his career as a swimmer, challenges he faced, and some key takeaways for young athletes in following their dreams. 

Tam started swimming in Primary School in Hong Kong, for a club team. At first, his parents prompted him to begin the sport as both his older siblings did. Then, as he got better and better, he began to fall in love with the process of swimming, seeing his times decrease slowly with each meet given the hard work he had put into his practices was a fulfilling pastime to him. While his classmates were playing video games and hanging out after school, Tam made his way to the pool where he spent his free time, grinding away at his craft. 

This was where he faced a big challenge in his life, a plateau in his times. What kept Tam going was his constant improvement with each meet. Now, seeing his times remain the same regardless of the hard work he put in disillusioned him with the sport, added pressure from his studies as he entered university was further stress that made him seriously consider quitting the sport. 

This changed after meeting his coaches and teammates at his university in Australia, who reengaged his passion for swimming and let him continue fighting for his sport. Over lunch, Tam told me that the biggest thing that helped him through tough times was surrounding him with people that were equally as driven as he was, whether that be his coaches or his teammates. 

He was so motivated that although his studies kept him working up to 2 in the morning, he would still wake up at 5:30 for early practice; after tearing his ACL playing basketball during a training trip with the Hong Kong National Swimming Team and getting sent home on Christmas Eve, he still turned up to the pool and pulled his way through practices. 

There are many times he thought about quitting through these events, from the heavy workload of his studies, to injury, and plateaus, even dips in his performance. These are things all athletes face no matter who you are, whether that be a professional athlete or someone that runs for fun. Tam’s story is one that many can relate to, which is why it is so important to share stories like this, stories that teach us the things that Tam learned along his athletic journey, to stay focused on your dreams, surrounding yourself with positive figures, and not quitting when times get hard.