Swimmer Julia Yeo, 15, remains grounded despite SEA Games gold and national record
SINGAPORE: Julia Yeo, a 15-year-old national swimmer, exudes a soft-spoken, shy demeanor with a cheerful smile, but once she dons her goggles and prepares to dive into the pool, her intensity shines through. Her strokes are smooth, controlled, and unmistakably aggressive, as she completes lap after lap of backstroke.
This intensity was on full display at the recent SEA Games, where Yeo, a student at the Singapore Sports School (SSP), helped the women’s 4x100m medley relay team clinch gold, despite being called up at the last minute. Yeo and her coach, Jerome Teo, recounted the moments leading up to her gold medal swim on Dec 15 last year, when she was just 14.
Teo's mind raced when he received a call from Singapore Aquatics informing him that Yeo would replace injured swimmer Levenia Sim in the backstroke leg. "A few things that went through my mind (was that) this is actually real, and then I thought that Singapore has won it so many times, and she’s the (first) swimmer, and so the pressure is on," the 35-year-old said.
Yeo, borrowing equipment from her teammates, relied on their encouragement to calm her nerves. "The seniors encouraged me a lot, because I feel like without them, I wouldn't be able to still go so close to my personal best," she said.
With no time to warm up, Teo gave Yeo the confidence that she was ready to take on the best in the region. "What I can do is put the pressure on me, and less pressure on her, then just try to get her ready," he said.
The rest, as they say, is history. The quartet – Julia Yeo, Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, and Letitia Sim – clocked a Games record of 4:05.79, defending a title Singapore has held since 2003.
Yeo's performance at the Games was hardly a surprise. Days earlier, she had broken the women’s 200m backstroke national record, previously held by multiple Asian Games gold medallist Tao Li. Yeo erased Tao's 2009 mark of 2:17.12, touching the wall in 2:16.51 to finish fourth in the event.
Yeo aimed to break the under-17 national record during the Games, but both she and Teo did not expect that she would surpass the senior mark. "I actually didn't know I broke it until after the race, when I was getting interviewed and they told me," Yeo said.
"I feel so proud of myself and very happy because all my hard work paid off, and I didn't think I would break Tao Li’s national record," she said. Teo later messaged him to congratulate Yeo on her achievement. "It feels amazing … It’s so cool that she knows me, and she knows that I broke her national record," Yeo said.
Despite her achievements, Yeo said little has changed. "Everything is still the same," she said. "The only difference is that more people in school know me now," she added.
Teo highlighted Yeo's exceptional qualities, noting that she "ticked most boxes" of a good swimmer. "There were many things like her work ethic, her feel of the water, her awareness of how her body is in the water … There are many other traits that usually good swimmers would have, physical traits," he said.
"That's where I feel there's a hidden gem here, so let's try to refine that gem." Yeo's rise to success was not without challenges. When she first began swimming at the age of seven, it was for water safety. After watching synchronised swimming at the SEA Games, she wanted to try the sport herself.
However, when she attended a trial at a swimming club, she was told she needed to reach a certain standard before attempting synchronised swimming. "I was one of the slower people in the group actually," she said. "They actually told me that I should just try competitive swimming, and I was like, you know what, why not? So I just tried it, and I guess here I am today."
Her rise did not come easily. In the lead-up to the SEA Games, Yeo trained nine times a week, including morning sessions every day except Thursday and Sunday. "So those two days were my only sleep-in days, so I just sacrificed my sleep to train," she said.
Teo was candid about the challenges of training at the highest level. "The majority of the time she's training alone, there was a period of time where it was a little bit harder to try to motivate her," he said.
"I think she was mature enough and disciplined enough to actually push through it and do what she needed to do to achieve what she needed to achieve." Teo's priority is ensuring Yeo remains grounded as she progresses through her prime athletic years.
"I always hope that she can be grounded, always stay humble, and I don't want her to just think that she's done it already," he said. He added that he hopes Yeo will "stay rooted to what she believes, which is hard work and a positive work ethic."
Yeo sees her national swimming role as a privilege rather than a sacrifice. "Honestly, I don't think I'm missing out on anything because I'm doing what I like, and because if I'm not doing this, then I’ll probably just be at home doing nothing or studying," she said.
She added that most of her friends at SSP are swimmers or do other sports, and that they spend some of their free time together at SSP’s boarding programme. "I don't think I'm really sacrificing that much of my social life because I'm also a bit more introverted," she added.
Family support has been crucial. Yeo's parents often travel overseas to watch her compete, send her to morning training on weekends, and cook meals for her. "It’s a sacrifice for them as it is for me as well," she said.
Teo set medium-term goals for Yeo, including qualifying for the Asian Games in Japan later this year, as well as the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Yeo, however, prefers to focus on the day-to-day.
"Usually, my goals are just at the back of my head. For me, I won't tell myself every day like, ‘hey, I need to make Asian Games this year’, because that doesn't work for me. So I'll just focus on the process." Beyond results, Teo hopes Yeo can grow into a role model for younger swimmers.
"I really hope that she can inspire the next generation, not just with her results, but also her attitude, work ethic, and other personality traits that she can bring to the table," he said. When asked if such expectations weigh on her, Yeo said they do not.
"I just go with the flow, I just train as per normal every day. I don’t really think about it that much. If I think about it too much, then it would stress me out," she said.
