My deepest condolences to Dominique Sarron Lee’s family

The report:

This appeared in the newspapers today:

NSman and former Sports School sprinter dies after training exercise

(TODAY, 18 April 2012)

by Ian De Cotta

SINGAPORE – A full-time National Serviceman died yesterday after experiencing breathing difficulties during training.

Private Lee Rui Feng Dominique Sarron (picture), 21, a former sprinter at the Singapore Sports School, was participating in a platoon exercise at the Murai Urban Training Facility in Lim Chu Kang.

TODAY understands that the incident happened after he took part in a training activity which involved smoke grenades.

Lee’s parents, Mr Matthew and Mrs Felicia Lee, were distraught. Mr Lee told Today: “This has all come as a sudden shock to us. He was healthy … and we only know that he got into trouble after inhaling smoke during training and we are still trying to come to terms that he is no longer with us.”

According to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Lee experienced breathing difficulties at 12.30pm. Three minutes later, he lost consciousness. A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medic attended to him immediately.

At 12.46pm, he was evacuated via a safety vehicle to Sungei Gedong Medical Centre, where an SAF doctor attended to him at 12.52pm.

At 1.03pm, he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National University Hospital (NUH), with an SAF doctor continuing to resuscitate him en route to the hospital.

Lee arrived at the NUH at 1.22pm. He was pronounced dead at 2.05pm.

In a statement, MINDEF said: “The Ministry of Defence and the SAF extend our deepest condolences to the family of the late Private Lee. MINDEF is assisting the family in their time of grief and is investigating the incident.”

Lee, who celebrated his birthday last week, won a silver medal at the 8th Thailand Inter Sports School Games in 2005.

Last night, his Facebook page was filled with hundreds of tribute messages from friends who remembered him as an active and cheerful person.

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My thoughts:

I write this with a heavy heart.

Former Singapore Sports School student and sprinter Dominique Sarron Lee died yesterday during national service training. He was 21, having celebrated his 21st birthday just last Wednesday (April 11).

Dominique was part of the pioneer batch of 100-odd students who joined the Sports School when it opened its doors in 2004. A former student of Griffin Primary, I remember being told by my Sports School contacts how excited they were at his potential talent and his strapping build.

He was the fastest student from Griffin, and there had been among the Sports School coaches and administrators that he would go on to become a fine national sprinter.

But Dominique eventually found that there was a limit to his sprinting talent, and he did find himself being  overtaken by other sprinters like Calvin Kang and Yusof Azhari. According to his friends, his asthma also played a part in limiting his development.

Still, he  remained an important member of the school’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay squads.

He then went on to Temasek Polytechnic where he not only became a member of the polytechnic’s athletics team but also showed a huge talent for music, and for playing the guitar. He apparently turned out to be a pretty decent footballer too, and even became the goalkeeper for S-League club Geylang United’s Under-18 team.

Judging from the messages that Dominique’s friends have left on his Facebook page (search Dominique Lee Sarron), and on Twitter (#superflydom and #ripdom), it is clear that this young man was very much a treasured friend, who touched many people with his outgoing personality, big heart and character.

My deepest, deepest condolences to Dominique’s family for their loss. I can only hope that time will heal the pain and heartbreak they must be feeling. As a parent myself, I can understand the grief they must be experiencing. It is not right that parents have to see off their children.

Rest in peace, Dominique.

Yours in sport

Singapore Sports Fan

National Schools Track and Field C’ships – Donovan and Eugenia light up an otherwise gloomy day at the track

Heartiest congratulations to Donovan Chan of Hwa Chong Institution and Eugenia Tan of Singapore Sports School for emerging the sprint king and queen of this year’s National Schools Track and Field Championships.

The two students were the only ones to complete a Double-Double at this year’s meet. They not only won the 100m and 200m in their respective divisions, but also set new records in both events in the process.

There was never a doubt that Eugenia was going to win today’s B Girls 100m final after she had set a new championship record in the blue ribbon event during the heats.

The absence of arch-rival, schoolmate and good friend Shanti Pereira – who withdrew from both the 100m and 200m possibly because of injury – merely meant that a win for Eugenia would be inevitable.

And the 16-year-ols Secondary Four student delivered. In a class of her own, she romped to an easy win in 12.69sec.

Indeed, the close fight took place in the battle for second and third instead. Katong Convent’s Jannah Wong – who set a new B Girls record in the 100m hurdles last week – took the silver in 13.10sec when she pipped Sheryl Tey from Nanyang Girls (13.16sec).

Donovan ended his campaign in this year’s meet even more stylishly – by setting the only record of the day when he blitzed past everyone else to take the A Boys 100m title.

He clocked a very impressive 10.70sec, eclipsing the 10.80sec record set by former national sprinter Poh Seng Song back in 2001 when he was still an Anglo-Chinese Junior College student.

Hwa Chong made it a double in the event when Tan Zong Yang took silver in a very commendable time of 10.92sec. Ezra Toh of Raffles Institution was third in 11.14sec.

So, well done to both Donovan and Eugenia for being the main highlights on an otherwise gloomy afternoon at CCK Stadium.

It was such a pity that it had to rain so heavily today.

Not only did the lightning and thunderstorm cause the programme to be halted for three hours, it also subsequently caused almost everyone to err on the side of caution on the wet track when their races came up.

As a result, many poor times were clocked.

Congratulations too to Hwa Chong for sweeping the Boys A, B and C Division titles.

There was more variety in the title races in the Girls Divisions.

Raffles Institution won the A title, while Cedar Girls took the B crown. Nanyang Girls High were crowned C Division champions.

Yours in sport
Singapore Sports Fan

National Schools Track and Field C’ships – Eugenia Tan in brilliant record-breaking form again

Eugenia Tan will most definitely be the in-form sprinter to watch when the National Schools Track and Field Championships comes to a close next Tuesday.

Having set a new B Division Girls 100m record of 12.39sec in the semi-finals last week, the 16-year-old Singapore Sports School student clinched a spectacular double when she rewrote the B Girls 200m mark in today’s final.

After closest rival and schoolmate Shanti Pereira withdrew from today’s final, the stage was set for Eugenia to win the event.

But she did more than that. She blitzed the track to set a new meet record of 25.64sec, breaking Nurulaini Ariffin’s record of 25.65sec, set in 1995, which had been unsurpassed for the past 17 years.

Such was Eugenia’s supremacy today that she was almost a second ahead of nearest rival Sheryl Tey of St Nicholas Girls who crossed the line in 26.84sec.

So now Eugenia has both the 100m and 200m records to her name. And now it remains to be seen if she can complete the “Double-Double” by winning next week’s 100m final.

She will go into the blue ribbon event as the fastest qualifier. Will Shanti (who clocked 12.68sec in Monday’s semis) be able to stop her? Or is her withdrawal today a sign that she is injured? We wait with bated breath.

Congratulations are in order too to Donovan Chan of Hwa Chong Institution and Raymond Lee of St Joseph’s Institution.

Donovan won the A Boys 200m in 21.75sec, just under the meet record of 21.78sec set by Jonah Tang of Raffles Junior College in 2005.

Raymond also entered his name in the record books when he won the B Boys 400m hurdles in 55.04sec, more than 1.4sec faster than the 56.46sec record set by Timothee Yap in 2010.

In fact, there were two record breakers in the event.

In a thrilling finish, Victoria School’s Calvin Quek was beaten at the tap by Raymond but also went under the meet record with his 55.05sec effort. Alas, only Raymond’s name will be captured as the record-break when the Singapore Schools Sports Council rewrites the list of championship record holders for next year’s competition.

The Singapore Sports Fan would like to congratulate Eugenia, Donovan, Raymond and Calvin for their brilliant efforts today. Great job, guys, and keep up the great work!

I would also like to congratulate brave Jannah Wong for gritting her teeth and fighting through the pain of an ankle injury to win the B Girls 100m hurdles on Wednesday.

It was a great story in today’s edition of The Straits Times. The Katong Convent student had hurt her ankle after a freak accident on Tuesday, AFTER she had set a new championship record of 14.83sec in the heats.

Despite the pain, and the discomfort of a tightly-bound ankle, Jannah was too good for the rest of the field in Wednesday’s final, winning it in 14.93sec, which is just 0.1sec off her new record.

Well done!

Yours in sport
Singapore Sports Fan