Underwater Hockey

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Tham won two gold medals in Underwater Hockey

It was a 38-year wait - But the hard work paid off for Christina Tham at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines This Week .

Tham first represented Singapore at The Sea Games - a regional Olympic-style Event - in 1981, winning silver in swimming at the age of 12.

Now aged 50, she returned to The Games and finally went One better.

Tham won not One , But two gold medals in Underwater Hockey - a sport making its debut in The Games .

"I never thought I would be back [at the] SEA Games and winning golds and scoring goals," She Said .

"I never thought I could perform at this level again. "

Tham decided to get back into professional competition in 2005

Tham got into swimming aged seven, when her father had a near-miss while canoeing on a lake during A Family trip to Malaysia.

Her father, who was in his late 40s, could not swim and initially resisted wearing A Life Jacket - But relented on her mother's insistence.

"I remember I was in another canoe across The Lake when I Heard a loud shrill," Tham told the BBC. "I saw my dad floating on the water, held up by The Life Jacket . That saved his life. "

After her dad was rescued, he quickly signed up the whole family for Swimming Lessons - and Tham hasn't stopped swimming since.

At the age of 12, she represented Singapore at the 1981 SEA Games in Manila, claiming her first silver in the 4 x 100m medley relay.

The Sea Games, which are held every two years, sees athletes from the region compete in a variety of events.

"I was very young and didn't appreciate the significance [of my] achievement. I come from a typical Singaporean Chinese family where [you're] expected to [accept] achievements with modesty," she says.

"It was only after I became an adult that I realised the enormity of my achievements - I was 12 and had won a medal in The Sea Games and was in The Top 10% in the country in the [national examinations that year]. "

Two years later, she was back at The Sea Games, clinching another silver in the 200m breaststroke.

But that's where her journey as an athlete stopped - at least for the next three decades or so.

Tham (fifth from right) and her team

Tham pursued a career in the legal industry, training as a solicitor and eventually heading up her own section of a legal department within a Real Estate company.

It wasn't until 2005 that her sporting career resumed - and it started with a story in a newspaper.

"I saw an article [about Underwater Hockey ]. It sounded so interesting and intriguing, [so I] went to try it out," She Said .

"I thought that playing a team sport would really round me up as a person. I found I missed a dimension doing only solitary sports my whole life. "

The high-speed game, which involves a heavy underwater puck, was added to The Sea Games this year. And so, 38 years after her debut, Tham found herself back where it all began - the Philippines.

She scored two goals - One in a 4 v 4 Event And One in a 6 v 6 Event - as the Singapore team won both golds.

And Tham has no plans to stop - with the next SEA Games due in Vietnam in 2021, the gold medallist intends to continue training.

"I train because I love to compete," She Said . "I love the intensity and The Process of Getting There and doing my best when it really counts. "

And what would she say to her 12-year-old self?

"I would say believe in yourself. Self-belief is almost Everything - Mind over matter. "

singapore, inspiring stories, philippines

Source of news: bbc.com