A pleasant surprise

Alicia is one of our debutant in the upcoming SEA Games. Having said that she was not performing at her best in the past year, she was taken by surprise when she found out that she managed to secure a spot to be on the representing team. With this being her first major competition, she does not expect much, but looks forward to giving it her best. She looks up to the famous Averina twins from Russia for achieving incredible feats despite not being as naturally gifted as other Rhythmic Gymnasts. Alicia watches a lot of web dramas and Youtube videos in her free time, and likes to play with her 3 dogs at home.

“The first I will do when I get back from the SEA Games is to go straight home and play with my 3 dogs, that’s how much I love them!”

Alicia used to be a ballet dancer, having taken up classes until she was 13. Having a Ballet background has helped her to translate the poise and elegance she has developed into gymnastics.

Eyes on the prize

This will be 18-year-old Avryl Tan’s 2nd time representing Singapore in the SEA Games. Despite it being her second SEA Games, this will be her first time doing an individual routine, having participated as part of a group in her last SEA Games. Avryl, like her team mates, will be competing in all 4 events which are Hoop, Ball, Clubs and Ribbon. With Hoop and Ball being her stronger apparatuses, she hopes to bring back a medal from either event.  The girls train 8 hours a day, twice a week and 5 hours a day on the other days. Due to the tight schedule, they all temporarily differed from school until the end of the SEA Games. The former swimmer looks forward to representing the country once again on the big stage.

“It is always an honour to represent Singapore. This time around I feel like I am doing this for Singapore, not for myself.”

Runs in the family

Lyn Yeo, another one of our debutant in this year’s SEA Games, joins her older brother, Sean Yeo who is part of the MAG Team enroute to the Philippines. The pair of siblings have been practising and competiting gymnastics for quite awhile now though this is the first time the siblings will be flying together for the same competition.

Lyn, like her other team mates, will be competing in all 4 events. She mentions that she has surprisingly been getting a lot stronger in one of her weaker apparatus, the Ribbon. Being the oldest of the quartet of girls, her experience will give her a boost of confidence going into the competition.

Mastery is key

Leah Chew is also one of the girls making her debut in this competition. When asked on what was her favourite skill she has learned over the years, she gave a rather different answer compared to her team mates.

“For me, I like to focus on apparatus mastery and handling. It is more interesting and not many people can master the handling of an apparatus. “

Leah looks up to former Russian gymnast, Rita Mamun, and wants to emulate her sheer determination to do well in the sport. When asked what she would have been pursuing, Leah said that she would have pursued a career in dancing, because she and her sister used to dance a lot and even took up classes for a while.