SEA Games 2025: Athletes Kerstin Ong and Amanda Lim on chasing their sporting dreams despite struggles

It’s been about 10 days of excitement at the SEA Games, and Team Singapore has been going all out to make their mark.

Hurdler Kerstin Ong and swimmer Amanda Lim have returned home after their events and will join The Usual Place podcast to talk about their experiences in Thailand.

One is just getting started, and the other has bid farewell to the SEA Games stage.

Kerstin, 28, finally made her debut at the regional meet after a decade of trying to qualify.

But the race came with its own hurdle. The national records that she and fellow hurdler Ang Chen Xiang set in their respective events on Dec 12 were considered invalid due to timing system issues.

Meanwhile, Amanda won gold in the women’s 50m freestyle event.

Post-race, the 32-year-old announced that this would be her last SEA Games. It was her 10th outing at the regional meet, where she has won 21 golds, five silvers and two bronzes.

In this episode, I chat with Kerstin and Amanda about what went down during their events, what’s next for them, and the challenges of juggling training with work.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:51 Kerstin's pov on the technical issues that affected her race timings

9:46 Amanda was gunning for gold at her last SEA Games

15:26 Amanda remembers her late father's impact on her swim career

26:46 How these athletes juggle work, training and even nosebleeds

36:40 We basically trying to survive: Kerstin and Amanda on funding most of their training

40:42 Why is it difficult for athletes to get funding?

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Filmed by: Studio+65

Edited by: Teo Tong Kai, Eden Soh and Chen Junyi

Executive producers: Danson Cheong, Elizabeth Khor & Ernest Luis