Interview with Ng Ping Siang, Singaporean Speed Skater

I met Ng Ping Siang outside a coffeeshop today, and we discussed speed skating over coffee and tea. He was easy to identify—no one else had such defined leg muscles. Once inside, he ordered a cup of Earl Grey tea, and I ordered a cappuccino. The youthful Mr. Ng is in his last year of undergraduate studies. We discussed more than just speed skating, but I am flying to Jakarta soon and did not have time to clean up the transcript of the entire interview. For now, I will publish only the portion of our interview about sports.

Q: You qualified for the 2023 Asian Games as an in-line speed skater and will represent Singapore, right? 

A: Yes. The event was supposed to be in Hangzhou, China in 2022 but got postponed because of COVID. The event will still take place there, and all the facilities have been built. I also do ice speed skating, but that sport is only in the Winter Olympics, not the Asian Games. For my sport, China built a new facility. 

Q: Both ice speed skating and in-line skating look dangerous because of their high speeds. Does the new facility make the sport safer? 

A: The danger is still there, and the new facility doesn’t make speed skating safer. In South Korea this year, someone fell, and everyone behind him also fell. Full speed body collisions are common. We don’t have designated lines. Like longer track events, we follow the leader. 

Q: Have you ever been injured?

A: Not as much as I expected to. I had a big injury in 2017 in South Korea during warmups. I was skating around the track, lost my focus for one moment, and then fell. We were doing crossovers…

Q: Slow down, I’m a basketball guy, so I’m thinking [Allen] Iverson. What’s a crossover in speed skating?  

A: A crossover is a technique to accelerate on the [track’s] bend. It involves crossing the leg over the other leg temporarily. [Mr. Ng shows me a YouTube video of a speed skating competition.] The person near me is also attempting to accelerate while on the bend, so if either of us loses focus, we could hit each other. 

Q: In the video, I noticed someone in the back of the track, as if he was intentionally staying behind.

A: A 1000 meter race is about 5 laps around the track. Some people stay behind to conserve energy and accelerate in the last lap. They’re also minimizing collision risk. 

Q: Other than the crossover, what are other speed skating techniques? 

A: “Going straight,” which involves swinging of the arms to maximize speed while going full-bore ahead. Going straight is not as fast as the bends, because on the [track] bends, we can push out, and we’re also swinging our arms. It’s a bit like a Superbike motorcycle race. Have you seen the bikers on the bends? They’re leaning like us, and sometimes they even touch the ground. 

Q: You mentioned you do both ice and in-line skating. What is the difference between ice speed skating and in-line speed skating? 

A: Ice is different because the blades cut into the track and grip, whereas in-line, the wheels don’t cut into the ground. If you go too low in in-line skating, you’ll fall. There’s a sweet spot for your body. Too low, you fall; too high, you don’t get enough speed.

Q: What attracted you to the sport?

A: I didn't start doing the sport. I was doing speed slalom, aka freestyle skating. They put 20 cones in your way, and you have to pass through them on one leg. I won some medals and titles in the sport, and at some point realized the prospect for that sport wasn’t as favorable as speed skating, which has the SEA [Southeast Asian Games] and Asian Games. My manager encouraged me to switch to speed skating because of the greater prospects. At the time, Singapore had no speed skaters at all. 

Q: You mentioned a manager. That’s not a coach, is it?

A: We have a national sports federation [SG Rollersports Federation] that handles our well-being, education, travel, and coaching. My manager is part of the Federation. We also have coaches, but they focus on coaching. 

Q: Tell me about your favorite speed skating coach.

A: My current coach. He’s originally an ice speed skater who’s won many medals. In fact, he’s SG’s first Winter Olympian. He became our coach recently, about 2 years ago. At the time, speed skating in SG was pretty much nonexistent. Our national team is about 12 people, and most of our success is due to the current coach. South Korea, Taiwan, and China are the giants of in-line speed skating. My coach, when he was a younger athlete, traveled to South Korea to learn from the best and trained with the best. Prior to having him, we were just watching YouTube videos. Having someone who’s been there, who’s been to the best training programs overseas, and who’s brought back that knowledge to Singapore makes a huge difference. In Singapore, to get funding and to attend the games under official sanction, it’s not automatic–we have to have a [reasonable] chance to win. To represent SG in in-line skating, each athlete must be in the top six. 

Q: In wrestling, we have weight classes as well as age classes (e.g., Juniors and Seniors). How does speed skating separate athletes, if at all?  

A: It’s broken up by age and by distance. Distances are 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m, 3000 m, and marathon. A marathon is 15,000 m (aka 15 km). I initially qualified only for the 3000 m relay. When the games were re-scheduled, I also had a chance to qualify for the 500 m and 1000 m, and I did. 

Q: I’d think it would be more difficult to keep up training during COVID. How did you stay motivated?

A: I don't think there was a moment when I felt unmotivated. Seeing the sport grow from nothing into what it is now kept me going. Having good teammates and a good coach are the most important things, and I am lucky to have both. If you were to follow a self-run program [at our level of competition], you’d exhaust yourself mentally. The coach is important because he imposes a regimen on you. The teammates are there to train with you, and the coach is there to dish out the punishment, and between all of that, it’s enough motivation. 

Q: Where would a Singaporean interested in speed skating follow the sport? 

A: In SG, we have J-Cube, and the ice track is in the mall. The ice track in the mall is not a dedicated track for us, and it’s easily accessible by everyone, so people visiting the mall will sometimes stop to see us practice. For in-line skating, we have no dedicated track in SG, so we train at the Kallang Stadium with everyone else. Both the ice and in-line skating tracks are open to the public and to athletes, but Kallang is out of the way for most people and more isolated, so we don’t get many casual visitors or observers.

Q: Where do you usually train?

A: At Kallang, the National Stadium. It’s also called the 100Plus stadium. 

Q: Do SG’s speed skaters have a social media presence?

A: Someone in the SG Federation will be starting a social media account on Instagram. You can also go to @inlinespeed.sg on Instagram. 

Q: Who are some of the big names in the sport that people can follow?

A: Joey Mantia (USA), Elton De Souza (France), Felix Rhinnen (Germany), and Viktor Thorup (Netherlands).

Q: Is there anything about the sport you'd like people to know about that we haven't discussed?

A: It's a good sport for recreation purposes and a good way to see scenery and our country. You don’t have to be a competitive athlete to enjoy the sport.

© Matthew Mehdi Rafat (June 23, 2022)