Singaporean swimmer Christie Chue brings skill set to south Florida
MIAMI (BVM) — The Christie Chue story begins in Atlanta, Georgia, where a happy conclusion resulted from last month鈥檚 NCAA Division I swimming and diving championships.
Chue swam three events in her inaugural NCAA championship competition and fared well for a first-timer performing on a rather large stage. The Florida International University freshman placed sixth in the consolation 200-yard breaststroke final and 14th overall. Chue also swam the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard breaststroke.
But the 200-breast is currently her premier event.
鈥淚t is right now,鈥� FIU head swimming coach Randy Horner said. 鈥淚t was this year. I definitely think she has potential鈥n her other events to be just as good. But this year is kind of what came out as being her strongest one鈥ut her freestyle events are very good too.鈥�
Horner said growth is the vehicle for Chue鈥檚 success.
鈥淪he’s growing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this was a big step this year鈥hroughout the year she developed a lot of skills and a lot of things that allowed her to do what she did this year at the NCAA championships鈥 think it’s a scenario where that’s constant growth, constant reflection, constant trying to become better at that.鈥�
Chue said that based on her NCAA championships performance, and the room for improvement in the breaststroke, she鈥檚 leaning toward that event in the near future.
鈥淚 would definitely try other events if I have the chance鈥�.but I’m placing my bet on the two-breast,鈥�
Chue said.
Chue, a highly competitive swimmer in her native Singapore, maintained hopes of swimming collegiately in the U.S. One program showed interest, and she thought her ticket was punched.
鈥淎nd, you know, we had seen that she鈥as going to come to a university in the U.S. And that didn’t happen,鈥� Horner said.
The school was the University of Michigan.
鈥淲ell, for first, is that they (University of Michigan) actually got my hopes high because they said that I was more or less admitted to the school. But then鈥 didn’t make the cut.鈥�
Interestingly, Chue placed higher than Michigan freshman Letitia Sim in the 200-yard breast at the NCAAs. (Conversely, Sim swam better than Chue in the 100-yard breast.)
Chue resolved to get on with it and continue her training in Singapore.
鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 not the end of the world,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then I just thought that maybe it’s not the right time for me. So I just continued training back home with my coach.鈥�
Her parents were sad, but Chue soldiered on biding her time.
The right time would be arriving soon.
Recruiting college athletes has changed over the years; coaches and recruiting services adopted current technologies as they became available. That holds true today as social media has become an invaluable tool in stocking programs with student-athletes (who can now acquire sponsorships, a story for another day).
Chue was found via social media.
鈥淲ell, it’s a small world nowadays with technology and the internet and everything else,鈥� Horner said. 鈥淎nd we’re always scouring international top results for high-level talent, people that we feel like could help the program that aren’t already in the U.S.鈥�
With her dream of competing and studying in America scrapped after the Wolverines鈥� rejection, Chue was surprised when she was contacted by FIU via social media.
鈥淪o I just thought I was just gonna stay local at home,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut then one day, I was just swimming as per usual, training, competing, and then Brien (Moffitt, assistant coach), just DM鈥檇 me on Instagram鈥onestly, I never heard of this school before. When they reached out to me, I was very shocked. Like, how did they find my social media because you know I鈥檓 like on the other side of the world?鈥�
Chue thought it might be a scam, so she had her mother respond to all the messages initially. Once she realized the 21st-century recruiting process was legitimate, she seized the opportunity. And Horner is glad she did.
鈥淕reat kid. I mean, she’s brought a lot of things,鈥� Horner said. 鈥淥bviously, a high-level swimmer, great trainer, great work ethic. Just a great person. That’s one of the things that we look for鈥eople that are good character-people, people that bring a good quality to the team and are fun to work with. And she definitely hits all those boxes.鈥�
As for cultural challenges, all foreign student-athletes spend time adjusting to their new environment. Chue experienced some difficult times this year while adapting to South Florida and living away from her family.
鈥淲ell, for starters, there’s a lot of sun here,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I’m not a big fan of the sun. So when I first came here, Brien kind of helped me settle down, Coach Randy as well.鈥�
Her dorm roommates also helped her acclimate to life on campus, but Chue couldn鈥檛 settle in emotionally.
鈥淎nd it was hard for me the first few months because I was like homesick really bad鈥�.And I had a few breakdowns, like emotional and mental breakdowns,鈥� she admitted.
Without her parents 鈥� a lifeline of support her entire life 鈥� she now had to own adversity by herself.
鈥淏ut now, it’s like they’re on the other side of the world,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have to deal with this myself. So it was kind of tough. But then I kind of got the hang of it, and kind of take this as a learning journey to be independent.鈥�
She said her coaches and teammates were instrumental in assisting her through the trying circumstances.
鈥淗ere at FIU, we’ve got, gosh, I haven’t counted recently, but I think we have kids from 17 different countries on our team this past season,鈥� Horner said. 鈥淪o we’re well versed at helping those kids adapt, transitioning them in, and have had high levels of success with that as well. And Miami’s a great town with a good culture of international, you know, melting pot.鈥�
Chue is optimistic about next season now that she understands the expectations and has experienced competition at the NCAA Division I level.
鈥淚 think I’m kind of looking forward to it because now at least I know what to expect,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not like in the dark鈥 know how to prepare myself better. And also, I’m gonna kind of target meet season as my qualification meet for the NCAAs. So I think it’s gonna be an exciting second year for me.鈥�
