National climbing team eyes SEA Games podium after topping table at ASEAN Championship

SINGAPORE: National climber Natalie Goh has been scaling walls since she was nine, after falling in love with the sport during a family trip to a climbing gym.

She started competing in primary school, specialising in lead climbing and bouldering.

Now, the 18-year-old is now among Singapore’s best climbers, helping Team Singapore top the medal tally at the ASEAN Climbing Championship.

She bagged first place in the women's lead event at the Kuala Lumpur meet last month.

“I was quite happy to get the gold because there were a lot of other strong climbers. So for me, that's something quite big,” she told CNA.

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Overall, Team Singapore secured a haul of 29 medals – nine gold, nine silver and 11 bronze.

Goh and her teammates now have their eyes set on the next major event – the SEA Games in Bangkok in December – where they are aiming to bring home at least four medals.

"I'll be training every day. I hope to train three times in a day,” the Republic Polytechnic student told CNA, adding she is looking to defer some school modules to focus more time on training. 

“SEA Games will definitely be of a higher standard because there will be a lot more (competitors).”

National coach Jay Koh said recent efforts to step up training and grow local interest is reaping results.

“Our climbers, especially the female side – they’re pretty good in bouldering as well as speed,” he added.

“At the end of the day, the Indonesians are still at the top. They have world-class standards. But we are gradually getting there because we have a system in place.”

To speed up development, the national sport climbing body has made improvements to its facilities, including a new wall to train its lead climbers.

The discipline requires