Perfect Fit

Exercise is second nature for Bryan Tay. The former Olympian and his wife have gone into the business of fitness by launching boOm Singapore. He chats about the venture with Alethia Tiang

- Alethia Tiang

IT’S HARD TO imagine that someone like Bryan Tay, who used to compete on a global stage in swimming, was extremely shy. The former Olympic swimmer reminisces about a time he had stage fright as a child.

“When I was younger, I had terrible social anxiety,” he shares. “In primary three, I went onstage and was supposed to recite a paragraph from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I said nothing. I literally stood there and said nothing.”

Things have certainly changed since. Because Tay is co-founder of boOm Singapore, a boutique boxing studio in the Central Business District, where he conducts classes a few days a week. And on the weekend of this interview, he will be doing a fitness talk for 1,000 people.

“That journey of breaking out of my shell started in college, where I was forced to speak. Because if I didn’t, I’d fail,” says the Psychology major of his days at Princeton University. “In the US, people are so willing to speak and the moment you hesitate, they will say what you’re going to say.”