From left: Jonathan Chan, Freida Lim, Kiria Tikanah, Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
The world is buzzing over the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan from 23rd July to 8th August 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the Olympic debut of several Singaporean prodigies, who have been training diligently at Singapore Sports Hub in the hopes of leaving an indelible mark when they compete on the world stage later this month.
Jonathan Chan and Freida Lim
A mild-mannered architecture major at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 24-year-old Jonathan Chan usually plays down the fact that he is the first Singaporean diver to ever qualify for the Olympic Games. In September 2019, he beat several formidable divers from across the region to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Diving Cup. This win qualified him for the Olympics and earned him a nomination for The Straits Times Athlete of the Year Award.
Jonathan was formerly a gymnast, who was recruited into the sport of diving when the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore was looking for divers. He stood out in the sport and went on to represent Singapore in international meets like the 2013 Asian Youth Games and 2014 Youth Olympic Games, and clinched podium finishes at the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games. He has shed blood, sweat and tears for this craft — in 2014, he landed flat on his back from a dive while training for the YOG in Nanjing, which caused him serious injury and ruled him out for two months. He spends around five days a week training at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. Here, he trains for almost four hours each day, and also squeezes in strength and conditioning sessions at the SUTD gym before or after classes.
“In preparation for my Olympic event, the Men’s 10 Metre Platform, I am currently training 16 hours a week at the OCBC Aquatic Centre,” reveals Jonathan.
On 22 June, Freida Lim became the second Singaporean and first-ever female Singaporean diver to qualify for this Olympic sport.
The 23-year-old competed in the FINA Diving World Cup in May, where she was placed 15th with a score of 272.35 at the women’s 10m platform semi-finals. Her impressive performance at this qualifying competition did not earn her Olympic qualification right away. She had to wait till FINA made its official decision that Freida had qualified, which was announced by the Singapore Swimming Association on 22nd June.
When Freida was young, she trained to be a competitive swimmer. However, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder, when she was 13. Fortunately, her thyroid function stabilised after two years of medication and the swimmer made the decision to switch to diving.
Kiria Tikanah
Another soon-to-be Olympian training at the Singapore Sports Hub is Kiria Tikanah. The 20-year-old upset her high-ranking opponents at the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in April 2021 to become the second Singaporean fencer in two days to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. At the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament, the chemistry undergraduate at the National University of Singapore achieved a perfect record of six wins. Her teammate and multi-time SEA Games gold medalist, Amita Berthier, qualified for the Olympics too by winning the women’s foil competition at the same tournament.
In 2019, she became the first Singaporean fencer since 1989 to win the women’s épée final at the SEA Games and bring home a gold medal.
“The épée is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. I started fencing at the age of eight, in foil, and switched over to épée when I was about 11 years old,” says Kiria, who was called up to Singapore’s national fencing team at 13. “On average, I train six hours a week, twice a week with my coach, Henry Koh, and my fellow fencers, every Tuesday and Friday at the OCBC Arena.”
“Sometimes, she struggles and she complains, grumbling to herself mainly that she has projects and so on,” Kiria’s father, Abdul Rahman, recently revealed to the Straits Times. “But she has been able to juggle. And she trained so hard, almost every day.”
Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min
Badminton player Loh Kean Yew, who just celebrated his 24th birthday, most notably won the Singapore International Series tournament in 2014 and 2017, the Malaysia International Series in 2017 and the Mongolia International Series in 2018. At the tender age of 21, he beat several high-ranked opponents, including China’s Lin Dan, to win the Thailand Masters. He has also clinched bronze and silver medals at several SEA Games.
He trains almost every day at Singapore Sports Hub alongside fellow badminton exponent Yeo Jia Min. 22-year-old Jia Min previously won a bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships, and also won bronze at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 SEA Games, as part of Singapore’s women’s team. Ranked World Junior No.1 in the girls’ singles event in June 2017, Jia Min is preparing diligently and says that she wants to reach her full potential at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
“I’ve been playing badminton for 15 years now. I started badminton at 7, joined the youth team at 12 and the national team at 15,” shares Jia Min, who trains five hours a day, six days a week at Singapore Sports Hub.
“I feel like it’s almost my second home, simply because I spend so many hours of the day at the Singapore Sports Hub,” says Jia Min, who trains twice a day at the OCBC Arena unless she has physio appointments at the Singapore Sports Institute or is engaging in off-court training. “When the going gets tough, I’m reminded that it’s not meant to be easy. I want to be a good influence and role model for the people around me.”
