SEA Games athletes to graduate from NTU

SINGAPORE — A decade or so of balancing studies and competitive sports — when days would begin at 6am and every spare minute is spent training or catching up on schoolwork — would daunt most people, but for national sailor Joel Pang, the biggest challenge came when he decided to take a break.

Having spent a good part of his life rushing between school and training, the 25-year-old, who was a 2013 SEA Games bronze medallist, felt strangely unmoored when it all came to an end.

“When I stopped my sport (after the 2013 SEA Games), I was really lost for a while, because my whole life had revolved around (sailing and studying). You really don’t know what you should do next. The transition is tough,” he said.

He eventually found a new direction in April, when he started working as an associate sports physiologist at the Singapore Sports Institute.

The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) sports science and management graduate is one of more than 8,600 NTU students who will receive their bachelor’s and higher degrees at the university’s annual convocation this week.

Mr Pang, who is one of several student athletes graduating this year, started at Singapore Sports School in track and field first as a distance runner, then as a hurdler, but did not fare well. When he was in Secondary 4, the school, noting his slightly larger and heavier build, decided to let him try his hand at sailing — specifically, the two-seater 420 class craft, where he acted as the “crew” and helped to balance the craft.

“I managed to slowly claw my way up in sailing, with the support of some of the coaches and staff at the time. I had zero experience with sailing, so it was like jumping into the deep end and trying to survive. I had to either sink or swim,” he said.

He soon realised that being a professional sailor also came with its own hurdles. He missed many classes in school as he had to compete abroad and attend training sessions, and had to burn the midnight oil on most days so as to catch up on the lessons that he had missed.

“Sometimes, I would miss half the classes for a module. This doesn’t reflect too well on your attendance, but I guess NTU understood what it was like being an athlete. I would leave for one or two weeks and come back, then leave again for another two weeks. They were very understanding and, for that, I am truly grateful,” he said.

Fellow sports science and management graduate and national bowler, Ms Bernice Lim, who clinched the women’s doubles gold at the SEA Games last month, also attested to the gruelling life of balancing academics and sports. On most days, she would have to rush from classes, which would end at about 5pm, to training sessions, which began at 7pm and ended at 9pm.

“School is in Boon Lay and training is in Changi, so I would use the train ride to study if I could find a seat, so that after training, I could just sleep when I got home and not have to stay up revising. It was all about maximising whatever time I had,” she said.

Ms Lim added: “In my course, there were about more than 20 national athletes, so NTU granted us leave for competitions, and some lecturers actually helped me catch up on my work. They were very supportive of our training and competitions, and I could email them with questions at anytime.”

Another national sailor, Ms Victoria Chan, 24, who clinched silver in the women’s laser radial class at last month’s SEA Games, agreed. The NTU graduate said: “It was hard to find a balance between school and sports, but the school was quite nice in allowing us to defer our modules or giving us later assignment dates. When some of us were competing at the SEA Games, they also agreed to postpone our exam dates.”

The students will receive their degrees at 18 convocation ceremonies over six days from today to next month. Presiding over the first ceremony today will be President Tony Tan, who is also chancellor of NTU. Education Minister Heng Swee Keat will also be present.