Hanoi, May 13 (VNA) – Ardi Zulhilmi Azman, a national swimmer of Singapore, said he hopes to record impressive achievements at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) in Vietnam.

Ardi got his start in competitions where he was smaller and weaker than his opponents and his focus was on winning Milo powder, according to The Straits Times.

When Ardi completed the 50m butterfly final and checked the result board in the 2012 National School Games at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, his first thought was not that he had won his first gold medal ever.

Or that he was faster than competitors older and bigger than him.

Instead, he was thinking about the jumbo packet of Milo powder that medallists received.

Ardi transferred to Aquarian Aquatic School in 2016 and has won several medals in the National School Games' B and C Divisions representing Outram Secondary.

He also represented Singapore in the 2018 and 2019 Asean School Games, where he won a bronze in the 200m freestyle - his first medal in an international meet. After completing his O levels in late 2020, he joined the national team, where he now trains under National Training Centre assistant coach Alexander Mordvincev.

This week, he will take his first step towards his goal of competing at the Olympics when he makes his debut at the SEA Games in Hanoi. Ardi will compete in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle and has also been pencilled in for the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays./.