Tao Li

Tao Li
At a ceremony welcoming Team Singapore home from the 2008 Summer Olympics
Personal information
NationalitySingaporean
Born (1990-01-10) 10 January 1990 (age 34)
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight58 kg (128 lb) (2006)[2]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke, butterfly stroke
ClubSwimfast Aquatic Club
College teamSingapore Sports School
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Singapore
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Asian Games 2 2 2
FINA Swimming World Cup 3 0 0
Asian Championships 0 1 1
Southeast Asian Games 29 1 2
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha 50 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou 50 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Doha 100 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2014 Incheon 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Incheon 100 m butterfly
FINA Swimming World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2008 Singapore 100 m butterfly
(short course)
Gold medal – first place 2008 Stockholm 100 m butterfly
(short course)
Gold medal – first place 2008 Berlin 100 m butterfly
(short course)
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2012 Dubai 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Dubai 50 m backstroke
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2005 Manila 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2005 Manila 200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2005 Manila 200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2005 Manila 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold medal – first place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima 200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane 200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane 200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2009 Vientiane 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 50 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 4 × 100m freestyle relay
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 4 × 200m freestyle relay
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold medal – first place 2013 Naypyidaw 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2013 Naypyidaw 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2013 Naypyidaw 4 × 200m freestyle relay
Gold medal – first place 2013 Naypyidaw 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 50 m Backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 100 m Backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 50m Butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 100m Butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 4 x 100 m medley relay
Silver medal – second place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima 200 m individual medley
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Manila 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Palembang 200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Naypyidaw 200 m butterfly

Tao Li (Chinese: 陶李; pinyin: Táo Lǐ; born 10 January 1990) is a Chinese-born Singaporean competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and butterfly.

Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the Asian Games, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Olympics. She holds several national records and is the only female Singapore swimmer who qualified for an Olympic Final.

At the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, at just 15, she won 4 golds and a bronze. She reached the finals of the women's 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne though she did not win any medal. In December 2006, Tao won gold at the 50 metres butterfly in Doha's 2006 Asian Games, beating China's multi-gold medallist Xu Yanwei and breaking her own national record in the process. She was Singapore's most medalled athlete at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, winning four gold medals. Earlier in the year, she became the first Singaporean female swimmer to reach a FINA World Aquatics Championships final, finishing seventh in the 50 metres butterfly.

Tao made her Olympic début for Singapore at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She qualified in the 100 metres finals, ranking fourth in the semifinals with a time of 57.54 seconds and setting two Asian records in two days. She thus became the first Singaporean swimmer to qualify in an Olympic final. She emerged fifth at the women's 100 metres butterfly finals with a time of 57.99 seconds.

  1. ^ Rohit Brijnath (11 August 2008), "Maybe, just maybe", The Straits Times (Sport), p. B13.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Doha 2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).