Oon Shui Kun - Student With Great Potentials

Oon Shui Kun - The Unpolished Diamond

Picture 1 - Oon Shui Kun in Czech Republic before the World Dragon Boat Championships 2010.

I met Oon Shui Kun, who suddenly became very interested in running. He also was passionate about running. He wanted to join the cross-country group. I told him to join us once a week and join the canoe group on all other days. As soon as he joined us, his running speed, over a span of 3 months, went down to 2min 29sec for a 1km run, similar to Jeevanesh, our Hwa Chong Institution (College) middle and long distance runner. Oon Shui Kun also brought his time for 5km from 18 odd minutes to 16min 18secs on a tarmac track. Impressive improvement indeed!

Having said about this young talented student, I realised that he could benefit our track and field team for this year. He ran his first 5000m and came in 3rd in the National Schools' Track and Field Championships 2010. I wrote an interview on him in the second article of the October Blog. Over some time, I found out that Oon Shui Kun had taken part in a major championship - Dragon boat competition and contributed to the team to become World Champions in the team event. Hence, I thought that it would be a good idea to motivate youngsters to believe in themselves and reach the top by reading an article on him. He not only does well in sports but also in studies. I thought that this interview would inspire people of all walks of life to excel in sports. 

An Interview With Oon Shui Kun

Picture 2 - (Left to Right) Lim Swee Kiat, Oon Shui Kun, Mervyn Toh and Daniel Soo.

Where and where was the competition held?

The World Dragonboat Racing Championship was held during September 2009 in Racice, Czech Republic. Teams from all over the world including Germany, Canada, China, USA, Russia and Great Britain took part in the competition. It was my first time taking part in an international competition of such a large scale.

How many races did you take part in?

To keep the squad fresh to challenge throughout the competition, the coach adopted a rotation policy in which every member of the squad played a vital part, be it in the heats or finals. I personally took part in the 200m, 500m, 1000m and 2000m events.

What was the formation of the team?

The team was made up of secondary and junior college canoeists from both NJC and HCI. For the 4 Hwachong canoeists, we did not have prior experience dragon-boating, but with the enormous help from the NJC canoeists as well as invaluable tips from the coach, we were able to pick up the sport in a short time span of 2 months. Eventually, the team was picked based on proficiency in canoeing as well as our fitness levels. We quickly forged strong bonds with the rest of the NJC canoeists and still keep in touch today.

Picture 3 - The Singapore Contigent during the World Dragon Boat championships 2010

How did you all feel when you won the championship?

We were of course happy, yet surprised as we managed to hold our own against physically stronger and bigger rowers from other countries to emerge victorious. We were greatly thankful towards our coach and a large part of the credit goes to him due to his careful preparation as well as strict disciplinary ways.

How do you manage your sports and studies?

I make it a point to try to complete my homework during breaks in school. This is because trainings usually take too much of a toll on me such that I am unable to concentrate fully after trainings. As I am not a very gifted learner, I usually seek help from friends who are academically strong when I do not understand my subjects. I feel that sports and studies actually complement each other, and taking up sports not only refreshes the mind, but forces one to maintain a high level of discipline in order to keep up with one’s schoolwork.

What are your thoughts on running?

I noticed that running is an essential exercise to maintain fitness for all kinds of sports, not only for track and field or cross-country. Be it for basketball, soccer or badminton, the best players usually maintain a high level of aerobic fitness so that they are able to play at a high level for the whole match. My passion for running gradually grew from my canoeing days. Running was an integral part of our training and we did all kinds of runs, from short 400m intervals to 5km runs, and these helped to built up my fitness as well.

In college, I was encouraged by my current Hwa Chong Institution (College) cross-country coach to take up running seriously and have never regretted that decision. He believes that I have a lot potential to do well in running in the long run. I aim to do well in marathon running in future and hopefully I will be able to enter the Olympics and compete with the very best some day.