Luke Chua goes pro in bid to win SEA Games, qualify for Olympics

Crazy, delusional, you cannot do it.

These are some responses that national triathlete Luke Chua gets whenever he tells people of his plan to pursue the sport full-time.

But he has paid little attention to these remarks.

Instead, they have served as motivation for the 23-year-old, who turned professional at the start of 2025 to chase his goals of winning the Thailand SEA Games in December, as well as qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

He said: “It’s a lot of societal pressure that you get and people just saying this is crazy, this is not it.

“I have a lot of faith in myself and there are also a lot of people who have faith in me, so I’m lucky in that sense. If I didn’t surround myself with the people I have today, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

Chua is now based in Brisbane, having moved there in mid-2023 to train with his coach Matthew Bury while completing his marketing degree at the Queensland University of Technology.

Making sport a full-time endeavour was something he knew he wanted since he got into competitive swimming at 10.

Six years later, while at the Singapore Sports School, his interest in swimming was waning, but that kick-started his foray into triathlon.

His coach suggested that he try aquathlon as Chua had clocked nine minutes in his 2.4km run at the National Physical Fitness Award (Napfa) test. In just his first swim-and-run race, he finished second.

Under his father’s influence, he picked up cycling and eventually gave triathlon a go as well.

He said: “Along the way, I wanted to prove people wrong in saying that you can’t do sports full-time.

“I wanted to try and inspire the younger generation that you don’t have to follow the normal route of studying well and just going out to work, you have options.”

Chua will start his season in about six weeks at a race in India, before heading to Spain for a three-month training camp.

A test event for the 2026 Asian Games staged in Aichi and Nagoya is also on his calendar, with a training camp in Thailand possibly scheduled ahead of the Dec 9-20 SEA Games.

At the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games, he finished fourth in both the aquathlon and triathlon events – which had 14 and 13 competitors respectively – despite being unable to train much as he was still in national service (NS).

Now that he gets 30 to 35 hours of training weekly, he is confident that gold is within reach.

Chua said: “What made me more motivated was that I came in fourth in the Games twice and I barely trained during NS, and if I came in fourth, how much better would I be if I trained full-time?

“That fed my confidence that I could win the next one.”

The five-time national champion plans to train and compete full-time until 2029 and will be financing his pursuits through support from the Sports Excellence Potential programme. He also has savings from being a swim coach and a side gig selling triathlon and cycling apparel.

Chua hopes to be able to pit himself against the world’s best at events such as the Olympics and the Singapore T100, a stop on the world championship tour of long-distance triathlon.

Watching some of his friends and training partners, including Australian triathlete Luke Willian, compete at the Games has only fuelled his desire to qualify for sport’s biggest spectacle.

But, to reach there, the world No. 657 would need to rise up the rankings. At the 2024 Olympics, there were only 55 spots per gender.

But Bury believes the Singaporean has the potential to achieve it, pointing to his progress from an eager junior athlete to one who can challenge for podium spots.

He said: “We believe this standard of performance is achievable as his progression as an athlete is continuing on a high trajectory...

“We have wonderful support from Triathlon Association of Singapore and Sport Singapore that provides us with the world’s best sports science needs, and world-class facilities that puts us in the best place to meet the needs of international competition.”

James Middleditch, Triathlon Association of Singapore’s secretary-general and chairman of high performance committee, agrees.

He believes racing full-time will give Chua the exposure to different venues, scenarios and competitors and hone his racing skills.

He said: “Luke has developed, progressed and excelled over the years, rising from a youth and junior athlete to Under-23 and elite.

“With the correct support structure, backing and encouragement, he has great potential to achieve at the highest levels of the triathlon world.”

• Kimberly Kwek joined The Straits Times in 2019 as a sports journalist and has since covered a wide array of sports, including golf and sailing.