Fridae

Some guys are born to wear skin-tight eyeball-popping Speedos.

Some guys are born to lust after cute guys in Speedos.

The subject of this tribute undoubtedly belongs to the former while yours truly (with no discernible sense of shame) belongs to the latter.

Born 18 February 1982, 20-year-old Mark Chay, is arguably Singapore's best male swimmer in competitive swimming. Blessed with a cherub's face and a perpetual cheeky grin, Mark Chay cuts a swoon-some figure with his stunningly wide shoulders, swimmer's bod (baby-fats notwithstanding) and well filled-up trunks.

Not since the appearance of former swimming stars such as Ang Peng Siong and Leslie Kwok has a male swimmer created such a stir in gay trunks everywhere. Making his first splash in the Singapore swimming scene in 1999, Mark Chay has been labeled The Next Big Thing (I am referring to his swimming skills) and unofficially declared hunk de riguer for many a chub-chasing gay men in Singapore.

In fact, during the men's individual 200-metre freestyle at The 2001 Sea Games held at Kuala Lumpur, contingents of homos glued their eyes to the goggle box and squealed their support for Mark in a unified pitch that would do castratos proud. And when the object of their desire emerged from the competition pool after beating defending champion Dulyarit Phuangthong (Thailand) clad in sprayed on blue thighs adorned with red and silver stripes, mass hysteria was reported amongst homos in Singapore (oh all right, maybe just myself and my partner) and some say Malaysia.

The young swimmer's achievements in the pool are indeed impressive by regional standards. Mark represented Singapore at the SEA Games in Jakarta (1997), Brunei (1999) and recently in Kuala Lumpur (2001) where he won a total medal tally of 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. He also represented Singapore in the Olympic Games in Sydney last year and was named the Singapore Sportsboy of the Year 2000 and Singapore Sportsman of the Year 2002.

When informed that he had been awarded the Sportsman of the Year 2002 award, the well-mannered hunk was extremely modest (I like!) and quickly defused any speculations that he would soon eclipse the achievements of his mentor Ang Peng Siong with these words: "Definitely Uncle Siong has always been the standard of Singapore sporting excellence. He's the benchmark. His achievements are inspiring. I am flattered that I am associated with him. But it is tough to be his successor."

One of the first elite athletes to come under the Singapore Sports Council's new Athlete Career and Training programme, Mark will have his total development (including career and education) mapped out for at least four to five years and will spend the next five years of his life studying and training in the United States (oh, woe is me!).

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Outside the competition pool, Mark Chay has made numerous TV appearances and appeared in fashion spreads clad only in his trunks for a number of local magazines in Singapore. A former student of Anglo Chinese School and Anglo Chinese Junior College, he is currently serving his national service at the Institute of Naval Technology & Operations (INTO) with the Republic of Singapore Navy.

(Confession: The mere thought of my favourite swimmer clad in his navy uniform has the effect of making my eyes roll back in their sockets and sending me into an ecstatic swoon similar to those experienced by ancient medieval saints after they were pierced by God).

Unfortunately, my relentless attempts at contacting Mark for an exclusive Fridae interview via his mentor "Uncle Siong" (as Mark affectionately calls him), have not borne fruit (curses!). Likewise, my attempts at infiltrating his naval base in my fetching Dior camouflage ensemble were routinely uncovered and my person unceremoniously refused entry (more curses!).

Still, all those years of gorging myself silly on Nancy Drew mysteries have not been wasted. After many hours of laborious detective work (and shameless plagiarising from news sources everywhere), yours truly has amassed a number of personal insights into Singapore's favourite swimmer.

Mark Chay's favourite pastimes would include playing bridge online, visiting www.swimnews.com for the latest results and statistics of swimming meets around the world and of course, spending time on his alma mater ACJC's (Anglo Chinese Junior College) website at www.acjc.edu.sg.

His favourite dishes would include chicken rice which comes in the shape of a ball and home-cooked Peranakan food prepared by his grandmother. (Mental note to self: I will enroll in Peranakan cooking classes at the local community centre this weekend).

As for his goal in life, the sexy national swimmer had this to say: "One of my goals is to be an Asian Games winner - and make an Olympic final. I want to see how that goes. Those are very long-term plans. That may not happen this year, but I will try."

Thus while Mark Chay continues to work hard at achieving his goal, this resourceful writer will continue staking-out at Mark's favourite training grounds (oh please, do you honestly think I will reveal everything?) while fantasizing about the moment my favourite water baby administers some vigorous mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to yours truly.

Until then, I will continue to work hard at perfecting my drowning-lass-in-distress routine...