Clement Lim (Lim Yong En, ; born 5 April 1993) is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an swimmer who competed in the 50m and 100m freestyle, the 50m breaststroke, the 4x100m medley relay, and the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay. Lim represented Singapore at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In 2012, Lim was diagnosed with

Ankylosing Spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hi ...

(AS), an incurable genetic disease that affects the spin and causes stiff and sore back, but went on to capture 4 gold medals at the 2013 and 2015

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

(SEA Games).

Career

At the 2009 SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos, Lim captured his first gold medal at the games with a game record time of 7:30.73s in the 4x200m freestyle relay event with teammates Marcus Cheah, Joshua Lim and Zach Ong. At the next meet in 2011, Lim captured two more gold medals in Palembang, Indonesia, in the 4x100m and the 4x200m freestyle relay events. At the 2013 SEA Games in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Lim once again set a game record, this time in the 4x100m freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.74s, with teammates Danny Yeo, Darren Lim and

Joseph Schooling Joseph Isaac Schooling (born 16 June 1995) is a Singaporean professional swimmer who specialises in butterfly, freestyle and medley events. He was the gold medalist in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, achieving Singapore's first ev ...

. He also captured a gold in the 4x100m medley relay with a time of 3:43.62s by swimming the final leg in 50.24s. In his final SEA games appearance in 2015, Lim captured two more gold medals in Singapore, both in new game record time. In the 4x100m freestyle relay, Lim swam the third leg in 49.81s to help his team, which consisted of Joseph Schooling, Danny Yeo and

Quah Zheng Wen Quah Zheng Wen (; born 29 September 1996) is a Singaporean professional swimmer who specialises in individual medley, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle events. Education Quah was educated at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and had ach ...

, finish the race in 3:19.59s. Together with Quah Zheng Wen,

Lionel Khoo Lionel Khoo (born 27 March 1995) is a Singaporean swimmer. In 2015, Khoo won silver in the men's 200m breaststroke and gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the SEA Games. In October 2016, he set a new national 200m breaststroke record at the ...

and Joseph Schooling, Lim then swam the freestyle final leg of the 4x100m medley in 49.61s to complete the race in 3:38.25s. Lim also participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Asian Games, and recorded his personal best of 23.26s in 50m freestyle that year. He represented Singapore in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Personal life

In 2012, while serving his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, Lim lost vision in his right eye and was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). The genetic disease caused inflammation of his spinal joints and gave him perpetual stiff and sore back. As a result of his condition, Lim has to rely on drugs approved by sports medical body to cope with the pain. In 2014, Lim's condition flared up and left him unable to swim for a month. The incident made him more eager to return to sports and motivated him to clock his personal best timing for 50m and 100m freestyle a few months later at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 Asian Games. Lim studied sports science and management at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Charity

Lim participated in the inaugural Swim for Rheumatology event organized by the

Singapore General Hospital Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is an academic health science centre and tertiary referral hospital in Singapore. It is located next to the Bukit Merah and Chinatown districts of the Central Region, close to the Outram Community Hospital (OC ...

(SGH) to create awareness for rheumatism and raise fund for rheumatology research in Singapore. The event helped raise S$103,000 for the cause.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Clement 1993 births Living people Singaporean male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Singapore Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Singapore Competitors at the 2009 SEA Games Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2015 SEA Games SEA Games medalists in swimming SEA Games gold medalists for Singapore Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2010 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in swimming 21st-century Singaporean people