SEA Games remain an athlete's first stage of discovery

At 4am, on his first competition day in 2011, at his first SEA Games in Palembang, arrived a painful lesson for Joseph Schooling.

- Rohit Brijnath Assistant Sports Editor

Future Rio Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, then 16, celebrating his 200m butterfly win at the 2011 SEA Games. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

(PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO)

Eat carefully. Be aware. Think smart.

In short, as happens to athletes everywhere, he ate something dodgy and ran to the toilet. "Hobbling actually," he grins. "It's hilarious now but in the moment it teaches you".

Teaches him that every little thing matters. Teaches him that something always goes wrong. Teaches him to adjust and adapt.

Later at the pool the "electrifying atmosphere" infected Schooling and the energy consumed him. The crowd was "hostile" but it flicked a switch in him. "I found out I love the noise and the underdog feeling."

The SEA Games, which have begun in Bangkok, are a Games in miniature. The Olympics have over 200 nations, the Asian Games just under 50, and here it is 11. But all athletes start small, investigating who they are as competitors and compiling an honest dossier on their reactions to stress. "There are two types of people," says Schooling. "Those who love the light and those who think it's too bright."

These Games are a multi-sport initiation and the start of an interrogation which persists through a sporting life. Am I made for this environment? Have I got something? Do I want more? Were my tactics right? Did my stamina last? Was my decision-making sound? Did I trust my skill?