When a young Vancouver athlete gave up swimming in 2009, he thought that was it for him in the world of sports.
He was wrong.
University of British Columbia alumni swimmer and former national swimming team athlete Callum Ng is no longer swimming professionally, but he's still very much a part of the sport.
So much so that the Canadian Olympic Committee put Ng's name forward to the federal government, alongside Olympic athletes diver Alexandre Despatis and skier and medalist Jennifer Heil, as one of its young athletes to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate.
While many gathered outside of Ottawa's Rideau Hall last Thursday afternoon for a glimpse of the Royal couple, the 26-year-old Vancouverite personally met theminside.
"It was very exciting and every personableand very casual," Ng said in an interview from Ottawa following his royal encounter.
Exciting is synonymous with many words Ng could use to describe his life in the past year and half following, what may have seemed an early retirement from sport.
The International Olympic Committee put out a call for ambassadors at the very first Youth Olympic Games in 2010. Ng applied and got the gig.
After becoming Canada's first ambassador at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games, he was flown to Doha, Qatar in May to talk to international sport heavy-weights on the importance of sustainability in sport.
"The Youth Olympic Games was definitely life changing," Ng said. "I got to see the power of sport in a young athlete's life over a short period."
Ng discovered swimming when he was seven. His mother worked as a lifeguard at the time and gave him a childhood around the pool.
Come time for college, Ng was offered various varsity schooling options in the United States. He chose home.
While competing as a UBC student-athlete, Ng had made a splash in the national scene. He trained with team Canada, flying to championships around the world. He reached the semi-finals in the world championships.
Then came a shot to make the team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"Everybody dreams of going to the Olympics and that's the highest level of my sport," Ng said. But, "during that year I still went to school. I went through the entire Olympic year of trials and I just ended up not making the team."
He added, "It's kind of like you're whole life that's what you want to do. You go, and on that day and it just doesn't happen."
Disappointed, Ng moved on, finishing school and starting his own environmentally friendly cleaning company.
Swimming, however, remains a part of his DNA. Today, he stays involved with young UBC swimmers and is an announcer for Swimming Canada.
He's even having casual chats with Will and Kate, sharing his experience in the world of sport.
"I think myself, like others in sport, are just people so passionate about it," Ng said. "We work to try to promote it with any opportunity we can get to impress people with influence and just tell them how important sport was in our lives.
