Mr Ang`s first major international competition was the Hawaii International Invitational Swimming Championship, an event which included many top swimmers from countries that boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. During the meet, Ang delighted the swimming fraternity by being the only non-American swimmer to qualify for the 50m freestyle final. As a result of his performance in Hawaii, Mr Ang received a full athletic scholarship from the University of Houston in the United States. At the US Swimming Championships in 1982, Mr Ang won the 50 m freestyle in 22.69 seconds, a world best time for that year. Mr Ang also represented Singapore at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, and won gold in the 100 m freestyle. Ang was presented with the 'World's Fastest Swimmer' award for 1982.
