25-05-2025
Former pentathlete Shermaine Tung switches to kayaking for one last shot at glory
Shermaine Tung rediscovered her passion for canoeing while recovering from an injury. PHOTO: TEAM NILA
Former pentathlete Shermaine Tung switches to kayaking for one last shot at glory
SINGAPORE – Over the course of her 18-year sporting journey, Shermaine Tung has trained and competed in shooting, kayaking and pentathlon, which comprises five events – fencing, swimming, shooting, running and equestrian show jumping.
With the clock ticking as she enters the twilight of her career, the 30-year-old former national pentathlete is aiming for one last shot at sporting glory as she returns to the kayak.
The unexpected move happened in 2022, after she broke her back from falling off a horse. Feeling restless as she recovered from surgery, the break gave her room to rediscover her aptitude and love for kayaking.
She said: 'I had to undergo back surgery and because of that, I actually had to stop horse riding entirely… It was quite a bad fall.
'When I was resting, I tried to give canoeing a go again, purely just for leisure. Then the current head coach told me to give it a shot, at competitive canoeing (kayaking). So I decided, why not?
'I came back purely because I love the sport.'
Tung's sporting career began at the Singapore Sports School in 2007, when she trained and competed in shooting.
Ahead of the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games, she took up modern pentathlon and despite not meeting the Games' age requirement, she continued training before moving on to kayaking in Singapore Polytechnic, which did not offer shooting or pentathlon.
After graduating from university and hitting a plateau in kayaking, she returned to pentathlon and donned national colours, winning a bronze medal at the 2019 UIPM Biathle-Triathle World Championships in the United States.
That same year, she won bronze at the SEA Games in the Philippines.
Tung eventually quit the sport after the world championships in December 2023.
Shermaine Tung is seen competing in shooting during her stint as a national pentathlete,
PHOTO: UPIM WORLD PENTATHLON
'When I left pentathlon, I initially thought that I would stop competitive sports altogether, I just wanted to chill, keep fit, paddle for fun and not gain weight,' said Tung.
'But then I think I missed the competitiveness, and that was what made me try competitive sports again. I'll just give it all that I have to qualify for the SEA Games (in December) and ultimately the Asian Games next year.
'There's a lot of work to be done, because compared to my peers, I'm still quite far behind, and they are younger, so definitely they're improving at a much faster rate.'
For this versatile athlete, choosing a preferred sport can be a challenge. Tung admitted that she misses the multi-discipline pentathlon sometimes, adding: 'I like running in general… And shooting, it's my strongest discipline out of all the five.
'But then training for five disciplines is actually quite hard when you're juggling a full-time job and furthermore, I was training alone, so that was really one of the main reasons why I left.
'I was quite tempted (to return) a few months ago, when they had the trials for the SEA Games. But it just so happened that it clashed with a canoeing trial and I really had to pick one.'
With her focus now on kayaking, Tung quit her job as a marketing executive with Singapore Singapore's CoachSG department to train full time. She is now living off her savings and hopes to be carded as a national athlete again to 'to pour all my efforts and time into this one last shot that I have'.
Noting that Tung had 'already quite good competency in the sport', national canoe coach Bill Lee, 39 said: 'As with every Olympic sport, especially our sport, which is a bit like swimming, both technical and also requires a lot of strength and endurance… It definitely requires time for you to see the hard work pay off.
'She may see it as one last effort, but she could surprise herself. It could potentially be even longer than just a short-term project, because she could achieve more in the sport and that could keep her going.'
Tung recently competed in the Asian Canoeing Championships in China, and is pencilled in for the South-east Asian Canoeing Championships in Thailand in June. The SEA Games selection trial will be held a month later.
While there are only four spots up for grabs for the Games in December, she said: 'Once I set my mind to go back to competitive sports, it's really my goal to achieve sport excellence in terms of winning medals.
'Because if I don't have the end goal in mind of winning, it will make it challenging to actually stay in sports because of how vigorous the training is and how taxing it is on the body and the mind.
'Yeah, so I have to really be mentally prepared that if I want to win, I have to go through this.'
Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.
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