SINGAPORE - When Ardi Zulhilmi Azman completed the 50m butterfly final and checked the result board in the 2012 National School Games at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, his first thought was not that he had won his first gold medal ever.

Or that he was faster than competitors older and bigger than him.

Instead, he was thinking about the jumbo packet of Milo powder that medallists received.

Ardi, now 19, told The Straits Times: "(Receiving the packet of Milo) was my extreme motivation. That was the only thing that came to my mind when I saw the scoreboard. I was really obsessed with Milo when I was young."

Reflecting on that result 10 years on, he added that that race was when he and his parents realised he had the potential to win more.

Recalling the race, he said: "It was quite packed but I wasn't nervous, I didn't really care about the crowd. I just loved to swim fast and to race.

"I was only in Primary 3 and everyone else was in Primary 4. I was really skinny and small, the rest were bigger and stronger than me. Although I was seeded second and swimming in Lane 5, it was quite surprising that I won."

Ardi is pleased with the progress he has made since then. He transferred to Aquarian Aquatic School in 2016 and has won several medals in the National School Games' B and C Divisions representing Outram Secondary. This includes the B Division 1,500m freestyle gold in 2019 despite feeling ill during the race, an achievement which landed him The Straits Times Young Athlete of the Year accolade.

He also represented Singapore in the 2018 and 2019 Asean School Games, where he won a bronze in the 200m freestyle - his first medal in an international meet. After completing his O levels in late 2020, he joined the national team, where he now trains under National Training Centre assistant coach Alexander Mordvincev.

He admitted that training with the national team was a bit difficult at first, having taken a month's break, but he was encouraged by his teammates and coaches.

"Training was a bit hard because I took a break during the O levels and I wasn't fit. Training has been quite tough but over the months, I've seen an improvement in terms of my times and other technical stuff," said Ardi, who now trains almost every day.

He also credits the sport for helping him mature as a person, saying: "I can see it when I talk to my coaches. When they give me feedback (on things like my breathing pattern or strokes), I take it seriously and work on it.

"When I was younger, I didn't really want to learn about (the sport) but now I'm doing that so I can improve and become a better swimmer. I like watching videos of top swimmers like Michael Phelps and Caeleb Dressel to look at their strokes, technique and how they're so confident swimming in a meet where everyone's watching."

This week, he will take his first step towards his goal of competing at the Olympics when he makes his debut at the SEA Games in Hanoi. Ardi will compete in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle and has also been pencilled in for the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays.

While the Temasek Polytechnic second-year marketing student is keen to experience more memorable moments like when he won his first gold medal 10 years ago, he is also careful to manage his expectations.

He said: "I'm not that nervous. The only goal I have is to try and swim personal bests because if I set too many goals, there would be too much expectations on me. Results are not that important right now, it's more about my progress."

Ardi is still an ardent fan of Milo but the kid who was driven by his thirst for the drink has now grown up to be an athlete hungry for silverware.

Fact file

Name: Ardi Zulhilmi Azman
Sport: Swimming
Date of birth: April 5, 2003
Height: 1.77m
Weight: 69kg
SEA Games events: 1,500m freestyle, 4x100m free relay* (May 14), 400m free (May 16), 4x200m free relay* (May 17), 800m free (May 19)

Major achievements

2019: Asean School Games (bronze, 200m free)

Fun fact: He likes playing console games and he still loves Milo.

*Final team to be confirmed