Blood, sweat and tears – that’s par for the course in the world of sports. For these three NTU students and national athletes, it was all these and more in their journey towards Gold at the 2022 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games

by Chrystal Chan

Photo: Singapore National Olympic Council

Jonathan Au Eong, Medicine

Men’s Foil Individual and Men’s Foil Team

“Never did I imagine that watching adults practise at a fencing school when I was six would lead me to make history for Singapore at this year’s SEA Games. This gold medal is our best performance in the sport since we last won the silver in 1991. It was surreal to hear the deafening cheers from the crowd and know that my parents and teammates were watching me take the victory. 

This has been a tough year for me. I started going for my clinical postings, so it was a struggle having to adjust to learning in hospital wards. Even after a physically and mentally exhausting day at the hospital when all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, I would have to drag myself to training sessions. 

At one point, I wondered if the 10 years of hard work I put into practising this sport was worth it, but I stuck with it. Fencing is more than just a sport to me. It is like physical chess as it requires a good mix of athleticism and mental strategy, and I truly enjoy it. The best part? I get to play with swords all day!” 

Chloe Ng, Accountancy

Women’s Foil Team

“I saw the light go off when we scored the final point, but I didn’t immediately register what that meant. It was only when we went to shake our opponents’ hands that I finally understood that we had won the gold medal. I was overjoyed that we managed to keep our title as reigning champions in the Women’s Foil Team category. 

Victory was sweet, but hard-won. Fencing might look deceptively less physical than other sports such as soccer, for example, but it is like any other sport out there. Coordination exercises, footwork training and sparring all push us to our physical limits. For me, sparring is the most exhausting, as there are continuous back-and-forth movements and you have to be quick on your feet even in a half-squat position. Imagine doing over 30 lunges in three minutes while wearing a heavy helmet!”

Amanda Mak, Sociology

Women’s 10m Air Pistol Team

“Fatigue was my constant companion during the lead-up to the SEA Games. Between school, my internship and training sessions, I only had four hours of sleep daily. I participated in both the 10m and 25m air pistol events. We had eight training sessions per week, each three hours long. 

I’ve lost count of the number of times I broke down after a series of bad shots and even thought about giving up. However, this is all part and parcel of an athlete’s journey. I constantly remind myself of the reason I started on this path – to stand proudly on the international stage. To be honest, I didn’t think I would do well at the SEA Games as I had trouble maintaining my scores in Singapore due to my workload. That’s why I was in shock when I heard that our team had won the gold medal. So focused were we on our individual events that we didn’t realise our combined scores would win the team event. I am honoured to be a part of this wonderful team.”

This story was published in the Jun-Aug 2022 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.