Written by: Darryl Chin
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: SMC Publicity
Swimming is by no means a walk in the park. With a wealth of experience and having competed in at least one IHG under their belts, these 2 seniors are by no means foreign to the sport. Introducing our male and female senior representatives for swimming - Yue Hong and Sarah!
To give a little context, Yue Hong was last year’s male swimming captain and having led the team before, he is definitely one senior to look out for this upcoming IHG! This man technically started swimming about 9 months before he was born, being the fastest swimmer at that time. He then recalls getting back in the sport after being thrown into a pool by his father when he was 6, definitely parent of the year right there. At a tender age of 6, Yue Hong had no choice but to pick up the sport because his only alternative was to drown but who knew he would turn into such speedy fish in the water.
Having swam for many years, this sport has definitely changed Yue Hong’s life (for the better) as he attributed to the numerous tanlines he got while swimming under the sweltering sun as life-changing. Even so, he still loves this sport a ton as it gets him wet, out of breath and makes his heart race so what’s there not to love about swimming? Swimming has also been very beneficial to him as he cheekily said that he saves a lot of money on cologne as he perpetually smells like chlorine.
Of course, Yue Hong also has many fond memories of the sport. “Our coach once threw us into the pool with a chair and we were told to hold the chairs above our heads and stay afloat. We didn’t.” Yikes, sounds painful and tragic indeed.
Ending off, Yue Hong only has one quote for everyone out there: “If SMC makes me strip for another photoshoot so help me god.”
Next up, we have Sarah, the female senior representative for swimming! Sarah first learnt to swim when she was a toddler, doing the basics such as splashing and then moving on to the competitive scene when she was 8 when her mum enrolled her into a swimming club! This marked the start of her love-hate relationship with the sport.
Swimming has definitely changed Sarah’s life. “One side of me would probably say that swimming has only made most of my life sad & miserable but another side of me does admit that it made me a better person >< I spent 8 years disliking the sport, dreading every single training but not being able to leave because it promised decent results for me. It was horrible - I‘d check the weather forecast before every training hoping there’d be thunderstorms, and come home to complain & cry about how much I didn’t like it (fun fact: the most I’ve ever cried was when I cried about swimming) I went on a break, into retirement, somehow back into semi-retirement and then officially training again, and it was only in my tenth year that I had (somehow) overcame the constant inertia to train after so many years lol. All that time it was probably my own focus, maturity & ability to work hard that was severely lacking BUT though it was a long & tough journey, learning to change my mindset made me feel more accomplished above all else ! :)”
Despite her love-hate relationship with swimming, Sarah still loves the energy and atmosphere at every competition. The adrenaline-pumping atmosphere and music along with the support of family and friends spurs her to do her best in every race.
When asked how she benefited from the sports, she said, “See above for personal growth HAHA. As for other areas, I definitely got to make lots of nice & fun friends through the years, and I think swimming is a pretty cool sport so maybe I am a bit cool now(?)”
Ending off, Sarah had this cute quote to share with me “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” - Winnie the Pooh 🥰
Make sure to catch these two stellar individuals at this year’s IHG as they swim their hearts out for Eusoff!
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