Eugenia Tan – SEA Games 2015 Athletics Squad

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Name: Eugenia Tan Yan Ning

Height: 170cm

Weight: 62kg

Date of Birth: 26 Feb 1996 (19yrs)

Personal Best(s): 5.71m 0.5m/s (Women Long Jump, 2015 Series 3)

Career Highlight(s): Joint holder for the women 4x100m open record

Below is an extract of interview

Q) What are your hopes, dream and target this SEA Games?

My target for SEA Games this year will be for the 4 x 100m event to break the National Record and it will be a bonus if we get a medal. For the Long Jump, I will like to aim to break the National Record (5.86m) or be the first female athlete to do a 6 metres jump.

Q) How’s your preparation for the SEA Games?

Doing a lot of technical work to improve our relay passes and to improve my jumps. And a lot of Strength and Conditioning work to make sure that the muscles are strong and powerful for SEA Games.

Q) What are some of the biggest challenges in your sports career so far leading to SEA Games and your athletics career?

It is to have a balance for everything. As I’m in my last year of Polytechnic, there are projects that needs to be done. Having training sessions and classes all in a day is very tiring physically and mentally. And to spend enough time with my family and friends with the packed schedules that I have.

Q) How did you specialise in your particular event? Why this event, what’s the attraction?

I started this event because few years back I went over to Germany for a training camp, the coach there say I’ve potential of becoming a jumper and at that time, I felt that I need a change from sprint that I have been doing for years. The attraction about this event is not about how fast you run but how long you can “hang” in the air for that is what makes the differences in the distances.

For the relay, it is every sprinter’s dream to be in the relay team as this event shows not just how fast each individual can run but the bonds they have with one another in the team.

Q) Who is your coach, tell us more about him/her. Also a mention of your previous coaches.

My current coach is Coach Katrina Hall; she is a coach from the US. She is a very technical coach; she likes to get the basics right before moving on to something harder.

And before Coach Katrina, I was under Coach Margaret for Sprints. Coach Margaret is all about the speed and how she can use technologies to help us improve on our speed.

Q) Do you take care of your nutrition and diet? Your opinion on supplements and food.

To be honest, I don’t really have a controlled diet. Mainly because my meals are served in Singapore Sports School so I just have to eat what is served. But I do cut down on junk foods as the competition period approaches. Other than that, I don’t really take care of my diet. And I believe that supplements are not necessary for us as if we eat right, all the nutrition will come from the food we consume.

Q) Aside from athletics, what else interest you? You could say the other part of your life beyond athletics.

Good music interests me because when I listen to it, it will be able to either help me relax and clear my mind or it can pump me up for competition or training.

Q) How do you fit in your training/competing with your family and studies/work?

I think time management and planning plays a very big part in this. In order to have time for everything, you will need to plan how you want to spend your time at every aspect. For the weekdays, i just have to follow a timetable my school has planned out for me. As for the weekends, that’s when you need to know what your priority and how you plan everything so that everyone is satisfied.

Q) Share with the readers, some aspects of your training regime.

I train at least 8 times a week. For Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, i will do speed training. For Tuesdays and Thursdays, i will do technical training in the morning and Strength and Conditioning in the afternoon. For Saturdays, I will head over to Kallang Practice Track for relay training.

Q) What are your long term athletics goals?

My goal is to be able to qualify into major games like Olympics to represent Singapore and not through wild card.

Q) What advice do you have for young aspiring athletes?

If you choose to take this path of life, you need to know that it is not an easy route but as long as you are determined and always hungry to achieve more, you will get there one day.