National athlete shares his journey as an athlete and a student at the same time with PERLIN ONG.
Mr Zen Koh Sheng Sian, 18, a student of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, was introduced as an athlete for the Singapore Short-track Speed Skating team at the tender age of 15. That moment, he had successfully turned his hobby into a career.
With a new role comes new struggles. As such, Zen was required to figure out how he could balance his studies and his new-found skating career.
“The pressure was on to perform well on both sides, so that was one thing I had to overcome,” Zen reminisces when questioned about his greatest struggles as an athlete and a student.
According to an article by Britannica, Short-track Speed Skating is a form of race on ice, testing one’s speed, aggressiveness and abilities. Being a competitive individual, Zen was immediately attracted to this form of skating. As a result, instead of pursuing a common sport like badminton or soccer, Zen decided to go for the relatively unusual sport, working his way for a position on the national team.
Before becoming a national athlete, Zen had occasional trainings. However, when he entered the national team, trainings became a daily routine. During off-season, he has at least five training sessions a week while during the pre-competition period, there would be at least 11 training sessions. With hectic schedules alongside school, Zen was unable to keep up with his studies and eventually formed thoughts on giving up, even during the year where he participated in the 30th SEA Games.
His team was what kept him together. Whenever he felt like giving up, he would recall the responsibilities he has as a teammate and that the idea of quitting was no longer his sole preference. He says it was “more of how I can better improve myself and have the responsibility with my team to try to achieve the best that we can” rather than a matter of whether he wants to be a part of it.
According to Ms Lynn Josephine Tan Xue Yii, 28, Zen’s manager, Zen is currently sporting a back injury which, according to Zen, was sustained during training. Despite the injury, Ms Lynn states that Zen is still preparing for the “upcoming Winter Olympic Games (WOG) Qualifiers Competitions”. She adds on, saying: “Zen is still determined to work hard towards his WOG goal by going for rehabilitation sessions so that he can recover fully and train hard again.”
Zen’s attitude towards the sport is why Ms Lynn describes Zen as a “confident” and “self-motivated” individual. She also regards him as “a leader”, not just because of his age but also because he is one who “leads by example”.
In 2018, the 30th SEA Games announced ice skating as one of its categories, according to an article by The Straits Times. As a member of the national team, Zen was to represent Singapore, along with his teammates, in the 3,000m relay, in which they would eventually come in first. In the same year, Zen was also required to take the O-Level examination. Due to his busy schedule, he learnt to study smart, setting goals and focusing mainly on the subjects that were required for him to enter his dream school and course. His secondary goals were set on achieving a gold medal in the competition. With clear goals set, Zen was then able to work towards them. His habit of setting goals and striving to achieve them was the reason why Mdm Sharena Mohamed, 46, Zen’s former form teacher, describes him as “ambitious”.
“Mainly it’s just the mindset, how much I wanted it,” says Zen, who also mentioned that throughout the process of balancing both aspects, he soon disregarded the pressure on him and just treated his trainings as an outlet to destress after a hectic day of studying.
Despite the great leap in his athletic career and the passion he has for the sport, Zen still prioritises his studies more. Along with the need to enlist for the army when the time comes, Zen has already prepared himself to say goodbye to his athletic career. Despite his willingness to stay in the team, he believes that “it has to come to an end someday, it is just a matter of when”.
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