As FIU career draws to a close Singapore’s Chue has some unfinished business in swimming
When Singapore native Christie Chue was just 2 years old, she could swim a 50-yard lap.
A little more than two decades later, Chue — a 23-year-old FIU senior and former child prodigy — has won 17 conference gold medals during the past three seasons, mostly in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Wednesday through Sunday, Chue (pronounced Chwee) will compete in her third and final NCAA national championships, this time in Athens, Georgia.
Yet, all the good things that have happened to Chue — including the Bachelor’s degree that she is set to officially earn next month — might not have occurred had it not been for the diligence of FIU’s coaching staff.
In 2017, Chue committed to the University of Michigan’s swim team. However, her application was denied due to perceived academic shortcomings at that time.
“I felt horrible,” Chue said. “I sacrificed my studies to focus on swimming, and then that happened.”
Defeated, Chue stopped applying to U.S. universities but kept swimming in Singapore.
Three years later, in the summer of 2020, FIU associate coach Brien Moffitt saw Chue’s impressive swim times at the Asia Games. Moffitt checked the database of swimmers committed to colleges and found that Chue was unaffiliated.
From there, Moffitt and FIU head coach Randy Horner contacted Chue on Instagram.
But there was just one problem: Chue thought it was a scam.
Chue then did her research on FIU — a school she hadn’t heard of at the time — and talked to her parents, who encouraged her to take the opportunity.
A few zoom calls and virtual tours later, Chue was on campus, training with Horner and staff.
“My first impression was that she is one hell of a talent,” Horner said. “She’s a great athlete, but she was very shy. She wasn’t super confident in her ability.”
Horner said his staff set out to develop Chue as a full person — not just a swimmer — and the results are impressive.
At the 2022 NCAA championships in Atlanta, Chue — with no expectations — made the 200 breaststroke finals.
Last year, at the NCAA championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, Chue made the final in the 100 breaststroke.
“This year,” Chue said, “I want to make the finals for both.”
Chue is ranked 20th in the nation in the 200 breaststroke; and she’s No. 24 in the 100 breaststroke.
She will leave FIU with three school records: 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.
Chue has also earned conference swimmer of the year honors twice: in 2022 and 2024.
A recreation sports management major, Chue is set to graduate on April 28, and her mother is planning on being there even though it takes 33 hours to make the journey. That includes a nine-hour flight from Singapore to Doha, Qatar, and a 16-hour flight from there to Miami.
Chue said she doesn’t know yet what she will do after graduation. Her options include working in the sports industry in the United States or going back to Singapore to swim professionally.
Horner, though, knows how he feels.
“It’s bittersweet because her time at FIU is coming to an end,” Horner said.
“She’s a different person now that when she first arrived. Her confidence, her perspective and her way of prioritizing what really matters … she has grown in every way possible. She is much more equipped to be a successful young person.”
Chue said her path has not been easy.
For starters, she has not met a single person from her homeland in Miami.
Secondly, she hasn’t had a vacation since 2019, training hard six days a week.
On a typical day, the 5-7, 154-pounder swims two hours in the morning, does one hour of weight training and swims for 2½ hours in the afternoon.
“I was excited but a little bit scared when I left Singapore, but it all turned out well,” Chue said. “I feel like I was given a second chance.
“Maybe Michigan was not the right time for me. Maybe FIU was the right time for me to venture out of the country on my own and graduate from university.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ FIU’s Paige Burrell, a graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina, has qualified for nationals as a one-meter and three-meter diver. Burell and Chue will be FIU’s only representatives at nationals.
▪ This is the 13th consecutive year that FIU has had at least one swimmer qualify for the NCAA championships. No other mid-major swim program can match that streak.