'CRAZY' CHUA TURNS PRO

S'pore triathlete aims to win SEA Games, qualify for Asian Games and Olympics

- Kimberly Kwek

Crazy, delusional, you cannot do it.

These are some responses that national triathlete Luke Chua gets whenever he tells people of his plan to pursue the sport full-time. But he has paid little attention to these remarks.

Instead, they have served as motivation for the 23-year-old, who turned professional at the start of 2025 to chase his goals of winning the Thailand SEA Games in December, as well as qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

He said: "It's a lot of societal pressure that you get and people just saying this is crazy, this is not it.

"I have a lot of faith in myself and there are also a lot of people who have faith in me, so I'm lucky in that sense. If I didn't surround myself with the people I have today, I wouldn't be where I am."

Chua is now based in Brisbane, having moved there in mid-2023 to train with his coach Matthew Bury while completing his marketing degree at the Queensland University of Technology.

Making sport a full-time endeavor was something he knew he wanted since he got into competitive swimming at 10.

Six years later, while at the Singapore Sports School, his interest in swimming was waning, but that kick-started his foray into triathlon.