On July 20, Team Singapore uploaded a video featuring National fencer Lim Wei Wen and his fencing journey.

Lim has represented Singapore and won medals in various SEA Games. In 2015, he clinched the silver medal for Individual and Team épée fencing.

The video presents a moving account of Lim's story - from the time he was spotted by the national coach in 2006, right up to the present day where he expresses his hopes for SEA Games 2017 and beyond.

Here are some highlights and quotable quotes from the video:

His relationship with his ex-coach, Karpov

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Lim's fencing journey began in 2006.

In 2006, Lim caught national coach Alexey Karpov's attention during Lim's first fencing tournament. At the time, Lim had just picked up fencing for a few months, and only managed to secure 8th place at the tournament.

Despite his less-than-stellar results, Karpov saw Lim's potential, and invited him to join the national team as a sparring partner. Lim agreed to the arrangement, but he saw himself as a burden to the team because of his lack of skills and experience.

However, Karpov believed in him, and insisted on training him. Karpov also told Lim to face challenges bravely:

"Struggle is good. You need to struggle!"

And struggle he did. Under Karpov, Lim underwent rigorous training everyday, up to three times a day, to transform into one of Singapore's top fencers.

It is for turning him into a top fencer that Lim attributes his success to his coach's faith in him, saying that Karpov's positive energy is what drove him.

Lim believed in himself because Karpov believed in him:

"Even though I wanted to give up, he didn't give up on me...The reason why I am Wei Wen now, is 90% because of him."

Even though Karpov gave Lim much hope, he was also part of Lim's greatest regret.

In 2012, Karpov succumbed to a fatal heart attack and passed away. Lim was training overseas when he received the news. He recounted that fateful day:

"That was one of the worst days of my life. If I were still around in Singapore, I could have at least done something. Or before he even got a heart attack, I could have thanked him or hung out with him more, not just focusing on my training...So the moment he passed away, I regretted. This is the biggest regret I ever had, which is I never really said thank you to him."

Going for Gold

When Lim's opponent scored the winning point in the team finals of the 2015 SEA Games, Lim broke down. He felt that he had let Singapore down.

At this year's SEA Games, Lim is determined to bag the gold medal, not just for Singapore - but also his ex-coach, Karpov.

Lim said he would not stop until he won gold:

"I'm fighting for my people, I'm fighting for him. I really want to do him proud. I'm really doing this (fencing) for him...After his passing, I didn't stop fighting, I struggle."

You can watch the full video here:

The 2017 SEA Games will be held in Kuala Lumpur this August. Follow Lim and his journey to win gold from August 21-23.

Top image from Team Singapore.

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