Donations of storied gold

There were no surprises at the OCBC Aquatic Centre yesterday as Singapore’s men’s water polo team remained unbeaten at the 28th SEA Games to win their 26th consecutive gold medal after beating Indonesia 15-10 in the final.

The win secured the Republic’s 84th gold medal at this year’s Games and in attendance to celebrate their victory was President Tony Tan, as well as about 70 former national water polo players who came together to donate their gold medals from across all 25 editions of the previous water polo competitions at the biennial meet.

The crop of players include those who had competed at the Asian Games and taken gold in the 1954 edition, and those who had competed in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

These medals, along with a historic congratulatory letter — written by Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and given to the men’s water polo team that won the nation’s first gold medal in the sport at the 1965 SEAP Games — will be kept at the Singapore Sports Museum located at the Singapore Sports Hub.

“There are 120 of us from all the 25 teams who took gold for Singapore at each edition of the Games, and around 110 of us are still alive. I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring out our medals and celebrate this unbeaten run,” said Alan Heng, 52, who competed at three SEA Games and was a part of the Asian Games bronze-medal winning squad in 1986.

“We want to inspire the new generation of water polo players, especially the younger generation whom we want to groom to be future stars. Our unbeaten run at South-east Asian level cannot be taken for granted.”

Tony Koh, 48, who competed at the 1985 SEA Games, and two Asian Games in 1986 and 1994, added: “On the surface, it looks easy — that we are shoo-ins for the SEA Games gold every time. But the scores between us and other countries in the region are getting closer. In the past, we used to win by 20 to 30 goals. Winning is not easy, and staying on top for so long is harder.”

Although Singapore men’s water polo team have maintained their status as the best in South-east Asia, they have not been able to replicate that success at the Asian and world levels in recent times.

But Koh is optimistic about the future, saying: “We are trying to see a break to Asian ranks, and a lot of talk has been about how we are going to get back to that height again.

“I have confidence that our eco-system is firmly in place here, with the hard work and training and competition opportunities, we can get there. The sports bodies need to recognise that we too need additional support and funding.” ADELENE WONG