BREAKING THROUGH

When diver Mark Lee bagged a silver in the men’s 3m springboard (individual) at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, he was of course delighted. But the significance of the feat was lost on him. Afterall, the then 19-year-old was making his debut and certainly had little knowledge of SEA Games history.

In fact, his medal marked a milestone for his sport in Singapore. It was the first diving medal that the Republic had won since the 1985 SEA Games when Lee Po Ling took bronze in the women’s springboard. What stood out more for Mark after his feat in Naypyidaw was the strong sense of relief he felt as he had come very close to giving up earlier in the year.

“We had a training stint in Guangzhou as part of our preparations for the SEA Games. That was really an eye-opening experience for me. The level of training was nothing like what I was used to back home. I found myself in another league altogether — in terms of the hours we had to put in, the kind of dives we had to do, the expectations of coaches. The intensity just stepped up insanely. It reached a point when I wondered why I had to put up with so much. It was all really tiring. That was when I felt like quitting,” recalls Mark, a student in sports and exercise science at Republic Polytechnic.

What kept him going was the encouragement of his team mates, including his twin brother. “We could not visualise exactly where all the hard work would take us but it was important for us to stay positive,” recalls Timothy, a student in aeronautical engineering at Singapore Polytechnic.

Having experienced some low points himself, he was eminently qualified to play the role of cheerleader and convince Mark that all the land training — somersaults, trampoline, springboards — as well as strength and conditioning exercises would lead to something. “For me, one memorable incident happened just after the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. I was so proud to be representing Singapore. It was thrilling to compete against some of the world’s best young divers, including UK’s Tom Daley. I thought I did OK. But, after my event, I received a Facebook message that said ‘Thank you for finishing last for Singapore’. Now, that really hurt. But I learnt to move on and not to be too discouraged by critics.”

It was this ability to look forward and not be bogged down either by circumstances or cynics which led to the twins’ high point in the 2013 SEA Games. Apart from Mark’s individual silver, the brothers also came in second in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard event. Scoring 336.45 points, they finished behind Malaysia’s Ooi Tze Liang and Azman Ahmad Amsyar (373.35) but ahead of Indonesia’s Jamjami Akhmad Sukran and Putra Adityo Restu (334.62).

“At the end of the day, what will keep us going is the joy we feel when we dive — the exhilaration and excitement of flying and somersaulting through the air,” says Timothy. The support of family helps too. The twins’ father is a pastor while their mother is a housewife. They also have two elder siblings.

With their breakthroughs, Mark and Timothy — alongside team mates like Myra Lee and Fong Kay Yian — are spearheading efforts to take an unheralded sport to the next level. With reinvigorated interest in the diving scene, the story of how two young men simply refused to give in — either to fatigue or to negative comments — could well be much shared and liked.