Victory hush: Khiew relishing his splashy success.
NOT many swimmers would think to apply computer science principles while in the pool.
But for national swimmer Steve Khiew Hoe Yean, who is also a computer science undergraduate, the discipline has shaped the way he approaches his sport – by focusing on fine adjustments rather than drastic overhauls, much like improving a system step by step.
“Computer science teaches you to break things down and look at cause and effect. I apply that a lot in swimming,” the 24-year-old UCSI University student said.
That mindset paid off at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Thailand 2025 in December, where Khiew clinched gold medals in the men’s 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle events, a silver in the 4×200m freestyle relay, and a bronze in the 4×100m freestyle relay.
“It definitely feels great, especially since I’ve been aiming for this since the Vietnam SEA Games.
“The last two SEA Games (Vietnam in 2022 and Cambodia in 2023) didn’t go as planned, but I kept my hopes up and continued training. I’m glad to see the results show this time,” he told StarEdu.
He added that when it comes to competitions, he believes trusting the process is crucial.
“All the work has been done in training. When it’s time to race, I just focus on doing what I’ve trained for.
“It’s about clearing your mind and letting your body take over. Don’t think; just swim,” he explained.
Reflecting on his journey, Khiew shared that the past few years had been challenging, teaching him patience and resilience.
“Sometimes you don’t get what you want immediately. It may feel like fate is holding you back, but often it’s setting you up for something bigger – a challenge you need to face to become stronger,” he noted.
While the victories were meaningful, Khiew stressed that medals alone do not define success.
“To me, success is about becoming the best version of yourself – improving and pushing past your limits,” he said.
He added that pursuing his studies alongside competitive swimming has helped him maintain that perspective.
“It’s nice to have something outside of swimming that I can focus on too. It takes a lot of the pressure off, and I feel like I can go into races with a clearer mind, knowing I’ve got other things to fall back on. It just helps me enjoy the sport more,” he shared.
For now, Khiew is concentrating on his studies in the first half of the year, while continuing to train for major competitions later this year, including the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.
With the theme of the article in mind, carry out the following English language activities.
1. Work in pairs. One student plays a reporter, the other plays Khiew. The reporter asks three questions, and Khiew answers using ideas from the article.
2 . Choose five nouns from the article for your partner. Your partner has five minutes to make as many meaningful sentences as possible using the words.
The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) programme promotes English language learning in primary and secondary schools nationwide. For Star-NiE enquiries, email starnie@thestar.com.my.
