Silver and two bronzes for S'pore at Asian Diving C'ships
In the week leading up to the Oct 24-27 Asian Diving Championships in Jiangmen, China, national diver Max Lee had to miss training as an elbow injury threatened to scupper his chances of competing.
The 16-year-old had suffered soft tissue damage in his right elbow after tripping on some stairs, and the doctor initially told him that he would not be able to compete.
Undeterred, Max saw a physiotherapist every day for his rehabilitation and eventually received medical clearance for competition two days before the Singapore contingent flew off to China on Oct 21.
Despite missing training, the teenager still finished on the podium at the Jiangmen Sports Centre, winning a silver in the men’s 3m springboard synchro event with Ayden Ng on Oct 24.
Compatriots Alycia Lim and Clara Liaw also bagged the women’s 3m springboard synchro bronze earlier in the day, making it the first time that the Republic has won a diving medal at the Asian level in at least 15 years, according to Singapore Aquatics’ (SAQ) records.
On Oct 25, Megan Yow and Ainslee Kwang added a bronze in the women’s 10m platform synchro event after scoring 234.9 points. China’s Wang Weiying and Xu Nan (296.52) took gold, while North Korea’s Kim Kyong Sim and Ri Hyang Sim (260.04) bagged silver.
“I honestly didn’t think I could go for this competition, but we tried and it was definitely worth coming,” said Max, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) student under a programme with the Singapore Sports School (SSP).
Max and Ayden finished second out of five with 305.52 points, behind China’s Fan Yi and Shi Zhihui (386.28). Iran’s Sam Vajerhelabad and Kiumars Aslani (297.18) took the bronze.
While Max’s injury prevented them from competing in the men’s 10m platform synchro, which they had also been training for, the pair were satisfied with their showing.
Ayden, 17, who was making his debut at a major event, said: “I’m really pleased with the results, we really didn’t know it was such a historic achievement.
“We faced some complications with Max’s injury and we weren’t able to train the way we wanted to, but we managed to overcome those obstacles.”
Having trained together for just two months before the competition, their showing also gives them confidence as they eye a spot at the Bangkok SEA Games in December 2025.
They had competed in synchro events together some years back but stopped working together in 2019 due to “different pathways”.
They reunited only in 2024 after national diving coach Charlie Tu observed their potential and similarities in their diving styles.
“I’ve always wanted to do synchro with Ayden because we started together. So this opportunity to go through this journey is one that I’m excited to share with him,” said Max, who has won a silver (men’s synchronised 10m platform) with now-retired Jonathan Chan and bronze (men’s platform) at the SEA Games.
While some of Asia’s best divers were not at this meet, Daniel Campbell, SAQ’s sport director for artistic swimming and diving, is encouraged by the results, which included Avvir Tham’s fourth place out of 14 in the men’s 1m springboard.
Campbell said: “It symbolises how far it’s coming along; we’re on the right path about being competitive on the Asian level, where we can be and what we can achieve.
“For a lot of them, it’s the first year or so of international competition and it’s setting the tone for what we want to achieve at the 2025 SEA Games and 2026 Asian Games.”
Despite it being their biggest event to date, Clara and Alycia, who have been competing as a pair for two years, felt that they managed expectations well.
The pair finished third out of six with 214.65 points, behind China’s Wang and Ouyang Yu (293.13) and North Korea’s Ri and Phyo So Yon (225.18).
SSP student Clara, 17, said despite knowing that their rivals are of a higher level, they tried to make it feel not too different so that they “would not feel the pressure and let it affect our performance”.
Alycia, 18, an NP student, added: “Although we didn’t manage to hit our personal best – we were about six points off – we’re still happy that we were able to pull this off at this competition.”
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