Swimming

Posted: 14 December 2018

While most Singaporean children enjoy a holiday abroad during their year-end holidays, Singapore Sports School student-athletes also travel overseas, some to China, Japan, South Korea and Taipei; others to Thailand and even Australia and the United States – but all for a different reason. Student-athletes have opportunities to train and spar with their foreign counterparts to stretch themselves in their sport development.

Sports School’s partnership with football academy Omiya Ardija provides a chance for selected student-athletes to train with age-group players from the Japanese club and experience a different style of football so as to raise the quality of their game. Omiya’s professional senior team plays in the J2.League. Each year, up to four Football Academy student-athletes have an opportunity to train with Omiya for a maximum of one month. From 2 to 12 December 2018, Amir Syafiz Abdul Rashid (Secondary 2), Iman Hakim Ibrahim, Muhammad Ryaan Sanizal (Secondary 4) and Ong Yu En (Secondary 3) made their way to Omiya for their Japan experience.

For 10 days, they trained with the Japanese players, refining their skills and technical ability. Their fitness was put to the test as they were pushed by the faster and fitter footballers from Omiya.

Ice skaters Pagiel Sng Yie Ken and Trevor Tan Xuxuan departed on 30 October 2018 bound for the United States and South Korea respectively, to up their game on the ice. Pagiel, a Secondary 2 figure skater, honed his skills under the guidance of coach Robi Chambers in Denver, Colorado. His stint concluded on 28 November an intensive four weeks.

Meanwhile, Secondary 4’s Trevor was in Goyang, South Korea, till 1 December in preparation for his debut at the 2018 ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He had the privilege of training with and learning from top South Korean speed skater which included Olympic medallists.

In addition to the training sessions, Trevor also competed at the 34th Korea Skating Union President Short Track Speed Skating Cup on 24 and 25 November 2018. He won 2 gold medals – the Men's 500m and 1,000m, setting a new personal best time of 44.602s in the shorter distance. His winning time bettered the Singapore National Under 18 and 16 records which he held. He subsequently bettered his time in the 500m at the World Cup event.

“I was getting about 6 to 8 hours of training a day throughout my month-long stint in Goyang. Training alongside Olympic medallists like Kwak Yoon-gy – a Vancouver 2010 silver medallist – and Kim A-lang – a gold medallist at Pyeongchang 2018 – and being able to interact with them motivated me to push myself harder so that I can one day be a world-class skater too. Technique-wise, I saw improvements as I refined my movements through watching and talking to them,” said Trevor.

Sports School Netball Academy’s Secondary 2 and 3 student-athletes had the privilege of attending a training tour in Melbourne, Australia, from 9 to 16 November 2018. The overseas trip exposes us to a higher level of netball, especially in preparation for the upcoming 2018 International Youth Netball Challenge from 24 to 30 November.

Engaging in combined training sessions and friendly matches with the Australians has helped to hone our skills, and learn and adopt different gameplays and set-ups. We were also fortunate to train under world-class coaches Marg Lind and Nicole Richardson who gave us tips on how to be a more strategic player on court. As we stepped outside of our comfort zone and adapted to a new living and training environment, my teammates and I learnt the importance of taking care of ourselves and looking out for each other. We had to ensure that we our time and finances were managed adequately, and that we had proper hydration and nutrition each meal – even cooking meals so that we obtain the optimal nutrients for recovery.

We had several cross-training sessions planned and we got to try my hand at boxing and pilates. I enjoyed the boxing session as the high intensity helps to improve our reaction and mental toughness.

Shooting Academy shooters participated in the 2018 Airgun International Competition from 13 to 17 November 2018 while in Taipei for a training camp. They won 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals at the Under 15 competition. Ariana Beh Yoke Ching, the Women’s 10m Air Rifle gold medallist, shares her lessons from the overseas trip.

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代表新加坡体育学校参加在台湾举办的2018年中正杯射击比赛，是我经历的第一次国际赛事。比赛紧张、刺激，富有挑战性。通过比赛，我可以学会克服不熟悉靶场的困难，也学会如何管控压力。

这次在台湾的训练和比赛，教练指导我如何尽快地适应新的靶场和环境，如何集中注意力；学习怎样与其他射手交流。同时，我也学到怎么控制自己的心情，不让失败打扰我的射击动作和比赛过程。在比赛中，尽管我的资格赛成绩并不理想，但我在决赛中，打到242.6的高分，最终赢得比赛。

这次台湾训练比赛的经历，真的让我学到很多好经验，也学了很多新知识。我相信我的成绩会有更大提高，对此，我充满信心。

期待明年会有更多的国外比赛机会。

Twenty-two Sports School's swimmers raked in a tremendous haul of 49 medals – 14 gold, 27 silver and 8 bronze – at the 2018 Aichi Age-Group Swim Meet on 1 December 2018 while they were in Aichi, Japan, for a training camp from 28 November to 8 December.

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The overseas stint in Aichi developed us to be more independent and responsible people and athletes. All of us were given our own rooms to stay in during this trip, so we had to look after ourselves, as well as do our own laundry. Keeping track of time so as not to oversleep and ensuring that we had all the equipment necessary for training was important, instead of relying on reminders from our teammates. However, although this may sound contradictory, staying separately also made us more aware of looking out for our fellow teammates.

Being immersed in the Japanese culture was also an eye-opening experience. They were respectful, considerate and polite towards each other. This could be seen in the simplest of activities such as rinsing themselves before entering the pool to ensure that the pool remains clean for other swimmers. The Japanese swimmers also always greeted us even when we were passing by, which made us more conscious of greeting our coaches and staff whenever we met. Furthermore, the streets were litter-free and even public facilities like the toilets were extremely clean.

The importance of discipline and punctuality at training was evident amongst the Japanese swimmers, to the point that we entered and exited the pool exactly on time – not one minute earlier nor later.

The training programme in Japan was a tougher than what we’re used to in Singapore which helps make us stronger swimmers. Training was more intense as we swam further in shorter durations. The importance of teamwork and unity was more apparent during this trip. Encouragements from our teammates in between sets spurred us on towards completing our programme – no matter how tiring the session was.

Track and Field Academy student-athletes attended a five-day training camp in Bangkok, Thailand, from 15 to 20 November 2018. The 48 student-athletes had the opportunity to train alongside Thai athletes from Thammasat University to help push their boundaries and stretch their potential.