Fencing, swimming, running, shooting and horse-riding: This Singaporean hopes to do it all at the Asian Games
In the second of three features on athletes headed to the Asian Games, CNA's Matthew Mohan speaks to a history-maker.
Nicholas Lim will be Singapore's only representative in modern pentathlon at the Asian Games. (Photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)
SINGAPORE: A typical contest first begins with fencing.
One hit is all it takes to clinch the victory, one minute is all they have.
There is no time to dwell on the euphoria of victory or the pain of defeat. The athletes have more bouts to go through – they must face every single person in their qualifying group.
Then it is off to the pool, where they leap off the starting blocks for a 200m freestyle swim. Some gulp water, wolf down energy gels and head to the running course.
Sand, gravel, track? Doesn't matter. Athletes run five laps of 600 meters, stopping multiple times to fire at targets with a laser pistol – all while regulating their breathing to ensure pin-point accuracy.
The few who cross the finish line first then get to do it all over again in the semi-finals, which are sometimes held within 24 hours.
If they make it to the finals, they not only have to do it again in a shorter time frame – they now have the added challenge of coaxing a horse they have never ridden before to jump over obstacles.
Welcome to the modern pentathlon.
ALMOST LIKE "TWISTED TORTURE"
The sport is believed to have been created by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games. According to the Olympics website, the modern pentathlon aims to define the "complete athlete" with skills in five disciplines, namely fencing, swimming, shooting, running and showjumping.
"The choice of the five diverse and unrelated sports that make up the modern pentathlon arose out of the romantic, tough adventures of a liaison officer whose horse was brought down in enemy territory," says the Singapore Modern Pentathlon Association on its website.
"Having defended himself with his pistol and sword, he swims across a raging river and delivers the message on foot."
A part of the Olympic Games since 1912, the sport will feature at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Making history will be Nicholas Lim, Singapore's first modern pentathlon representative at the Asian Games.
"The first question (from others) is always: 'Oh, is it swimming, running and cycling?'
"They always assume it is some variation of (the) triathlon, and usually after you explain the sport, why it is these kinds of sports ... and you explain that it's founded by the guy who founded the modern Olympics, modelled after what the perfect cavalry soldier would be in the 1900s, then it starts to click."
A former swimmer who competed at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) level during his undergraduate years, Lim first picked up the sport two years ago.
While pursuing his postgraduate degree at Oxford University, Lim realised he had hit a "plateau" with his swimming.
"When I was swimming in university, I was kind of doing it as a hobby rather than competitively," Lim told CNA. "After a while, I got a bit bored ... as much as I love the sport, I hit a plateau."
Encouraged by a friend who is a British national pentathlete, and helped by the fact that there was a pentathlon club at his university, Lim decided to give the sport a shot.
"I took it up and within a few months, I was able to develop quite quickly," he said.
"My first reaction was: 'Why haven't I heard of this earlier?' This is quite a cool sport, and as someone who likes to try many things, it was the perfect thing."
While he had never fenced before, it came quite naturally to him, recalled Lim.
"I’ve got two younger brothers and more often than not we would (use sticks to) poke each other (when we were kids). That kind of helped a bit," he said with a laugh.
And his time in National Service helped with the shooting.
"I already had the natural movements – hand to the side, on the trigger and everything. And so it was getting used to …. (shooting) without recoil and being able to shoot under a high heart rate."
Being based in the UK was a big advantage when it came to learning how to ride a horse, said Lim.
"These were all a series of fortunate events for me. Because I'm based in the UK and equestrian is a very big part of the culture. For example, I can go out maybe five, 10 minutes away and there will be somewhere I can ride a horse that is affordable … that really helped my development," he said.
And while it may seem daunting for beginners, having a gung-ho personality helped, added Lim.
"Once I’m on the horse, I’m just like whatever happens happens. And one of the things with riding is horses can sense your fear, they can sense when you’re … tense, the horse can feel that and makes them a lot harder to ride. Whereas if you’re relaxed, the horse will also be relaxed," said Lim.
"But ... I’ve been thrown off my fair share (of horses and had) so many injuries from horse-riding."
At the pentathlon, weakness in any of the disciplines will have a huge impact on the athlete, said Lim.
"That's the difficult thing about pentathlon. The moment you have any weakness, you're at a huge disadvantage."
"THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE"
Inspired by a friend who took a year off to attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, and a supervisor who was a former fencer who qualified for the 1980 Olympics, Lim decided to pursue the sport at a higher level.
"My parents were very supportive. Initially of course (in the) Singaporean culture academics come first ... The fact that my supervisor was supportive, even if I was taking some time off to train, I would still hold the position of PhD student, I think that was something that was encouraging for them."
The Singaporean's first international competition was the International Pentathlon World Cup in Cairo, Egypt last year.
"The nice thing about the pentathlon is that when you go to the World Cup, maybe half of them are all Olympians. So it's really being thrown into the deep end where the ... person you’re fencing has won a silver medal in Rio (the 2016 Olympics)," he said.
"It was daunting and at that point, even though I didn't have any expectations, obviously I wanted to do the best I could. And all in all, the competition was a good experience … It was my first competition but it motivated me to push myself harder."
Since then Lim has competed in a number of international competitions including three other World Cups.
"It’s learning where my biggest weaknesses are and how the different countries train … learning more about what they do to get that additional edge."
The sport is one filled with "many highs and lows", added Lim who has been on the road since March this year and recently returned to Singapore.
"You can be the best fencer one day and the worst fencer the next. It's almost this twisted torture," he said.
"You can have somebody who is having the best day of their life in the swim, fence and run, but something happens on the horse and they fall off. It's this delicate balance, anything can happen."
And the intensity of the competition is something he enjoys.
"In the fencing ranking round, every hit is the biggest dopamine rush when you score a point, and every loss sinks you. It's this rollercoaster of emotions for two-and-a-half hours," he said.
"There's always hope. You have a bad fence, then you're like: 'Okay, I'll make it up in the swim' ... It's this constant chase for the high."
Lim will come up against stiff competition in Hangzhou, but relishing the opportunity.
"I know the standards for some of the athletes, how strong they are, especially after competing against them at the World Cups. So my goal is to kind of surprise them a bit," he said.
"I really do want to make Singapore proud, (to) try and do my best."
