Kenneth To

At 26 years old, Kenneth To has this physical status:

In 2009, he came into the swimming spotlight when he broke Ian Thorpe's decade-old Australian record in the 16 years 200m individual medley, swimming a time of 2:04.31. At the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, To won gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, silver in the 50m freestyle, 200m medley and 4 × 100 m mixed freestyle relay, and bronze in the 100m freestyle and 4 × 100 m mixed medley relay.

At the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Maui, To won gold in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, and silver in the 4 × 100 m freestyle and medley relays. At the 2010 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Brisbane, To made his breakthrough onto the senior Australian Swimming Team. He won gold in the 100m medley, silver in the 200m medley and bronze in the 100m breaststroke, earning selection to compete at the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m). At the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Dubai, To placed 5th in the 100m medley and 6th in the 200m medley.

To regained selection on the Australian Swim Team at the 2011 Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney. He won silver in the 200m medley, earning selection to compete at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, where he placed 7th in the 200m medley. In the heats of that event, he had a breakout performance, clocking 1:59.02 to rank 3rd overall going into the semifinal. At the 2011 FINA Swimming World Cup series, To placed 9th in the men's overall scoring on a total of 31 points.

At the 2012 Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide, To narrowly missed out on earning selection to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He placed 4th in the 200m medley and 9th in the 100m freestyle, largely because 7 weeks earlier he had required an operation to remove his appendix. Nonetheless, To was selected to compete at the 2012 Oceania Swimming Championships. At the 2012 Oceania Swimming Championships in Nouméa, To won a total of 7 medals in a return to form. He won gold in the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m medley, 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, and silver in the 100m butterfly and 400m medley. At the 2012 FINA Swimming World Cup series, To claimed a big prize in winning the men's overall scoring on a total of 195 points. At the Dubai meet, he set a new Australian record for the 100m medley in 51.43. At the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Istanbul, To won silver in the 100m medley and bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle and medley relays. His time of 51.38 in the 100m medley was only 0.17 off the winning performance of American superstar Ryan Lochte, and set another Australian record in that event.

At the 2013 Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide, To won silver in the 200m medley and 4 × 100 m medley relay and bronze in the 100m breaststroke. At this meet, he also competed in the heats of the 100m freestyle, clocking the equal 4th fastest time from heats, semifinals and finals. His performance in that event and the 200m medley earned him selection to compete at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships. At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, To won silver as a butterfly heat swimmer for the 4 × 100 m medley relay team for Australia. He also swam as a heat swimmer in the second leg of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, which placed 4th in the final, and placed 13th individually in the 200m medley. At the 2013 FINA Swimming World Cup series, To placed 5th in the men's overall scoring on a total of 192 points. At the Berlin meet, he set a new Australian record in the 200m medley in 1:52.01, and similarly at the Doha meet in the 100m medley in 51.19.

At the 2014 Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane, To won gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay and placed 4th in the 100m freestyle. His performance in the 100m freestyle earned him selection to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, To won two medals – one gold as a heat swimmer for the 4 × 100 m freestyle, and one silver as a breaststroke heat swimmer for the 4 × 100 m medley relay teams for Australia. Upon completion of the Commonwealth Games, To withdrew from competing at the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in order to undertake a L4-L5 microdiscectomy on an injured back which had been severely affecting his training and performance. Allowing for post-operative rest and recovery ruled To out of the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup and 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m).

The injury in 2014 sidelined his World Championships and 2016 Rio Olympics hopes. To submitted paperwork to FINA for the transition to Hong Kong in late 2016. He made the decision after discussing it with his girlfriend after 2016 Australian Olympics trials and hoping to switch for new environment. He began training at the Hong Kong Sports Institute as a senior squad member, with the ultimate target being the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In August, To first represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei. He broke 13 national records within 10 months including the LCM 50/100 freestyle, 50/100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley, along with the SCM 50/100/200 freestyle, 50/100 breaststroke, 50/100 butterfly and 100/200/400 individual medley.

In May, To received an award for his achievements from the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association. To participated in 2018 Jakarta Asian Games but unfortunately could not win any medals. He finished fifth in the finals of the 50m freestyle and the 200m individual medley. During 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Hangzhou, To became the first Hong Kong male swimmer qualified into final with 52.33 seconds on 13 December. He finished at 6th place in the final with faster time 51.88 seconds, a new Hong Kong national record.

In January, To moved to the United States to begin training under Gregg Troy at the University of Florida and participate in a training camp in the Florida Keys. He planned to compete at the Hong Kong Festival of Sport in April, which serves as one of the nation's qualifying meets for the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Source