SINGAPORE — Like most teenagers, Joshua Lim enjoys being with friends and watching movies.

But the 16-year-old is also one of Singapore’s best young fencers, causing a stir when he became the first Singaporean to win a record six gold medals in the junior, cadet and senior categories of the South-east Asian Fencing Federation (SEAFF) Championships.

Two months ago, Joshua won the senior men’s individual and team foil titles at the SEAFF Championships in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Earlier this month, he added the men’s junior and cadet individual and team foil titles at the SEAFF Junior and Cadet Championships in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei.

It was Singapore’s best international result since Ruth Ng finished fifth in the women’s foil at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Although he has only conquered the region, Joshua is already dreaming big.

“I aim to win an Olympic medal,” the Hwa Chong Institution student told TODAY in an email interview from Italy, where he is undergoing a two-week training stint, one that has caused him to miss celebrating Chinese New Year with his family.

He cites his performance at the 2012 World Cadet Championships in Moscow, where he lost 5-4 to eventual winner Kyosuke Matsuyama of Japan en route to an eighth-placed finish in the men’s foil, as his “most satisfying” result to date.

And club coach Wu Jie said Joshua is aiming for a podium finish against the world’s top fencers in his age group at April’s World Junior Championship in Croatia.

Fencing Singapore President Nicholas Fang believes that Joshua, who is Singapore’s No 1 ranked fencer in the men’s foil, is a potential world-class fencer in the making.

“Joshua has progressed by leaps and bounds, and his results are something that I don’t see any other Singaporean replicating any time soon,” said the former national fencer.

“I do believe he has what it takes to be ranked among the best in the world, but he will need time to grow physically, and also to acquire the mental and technical skills to hold his own against the best, especially at the senior level.

“It has been our experience that there is no benefit to pressuring and pushing athletes to their limit when they are still young, and that fencers typically ... peak in their mid- to late 20s and even their 30s, so he definitely has time to grow and mature.”

Yet, Joshua remains wary of the level of expectation placed on his youthful shoulders.

“Yes, I do recognise the growing expectations. I must constantly remind myself not to allow it to affect me emotionally,” he said.

“In fact, I prefer being away from the spotlight as I am nowhere compared to the many world champions. I have so much to learn from the best and want to focus on my fencing.”

He admits it has been difficult to juggle his school and sporting commitments but is prepared to put in the required sacrifices to fulfil his potential in fencing.

“I have struggled with different time zones in order to clear my homework. It’s very straining,” Joshua said.

“And in Moscow, I either stayed up till 3am or woke up at 5am so that I could cope with my studies.”

Although fencing receives up to S$1.5 million in funding for the current fiscal year from the Singapore Sports Council, Joshua pointed out that there are other challenges the sport faces here.

“The challenge we face is that fencing here is still at its teething stage. As it only became a co-curricular activity in schools two years ago, there is a limited pool of experienced fencers in Singapore,” he said.

“Therefore, I need international competitions to expose myself. Training overseas in different countries such as Japan, South Korea and China is essential to improving my skills.”