Vertical ambition: Singapore's speed climbing trio

(From left to right) Adre, Jeanette, and Ezell, our Team Singapore speed climbing athletes participating in the 2026 Asian Games.

In the time it takes for a person to complete two breaths, speed climbers can scale a 15-metre wall — about 5 storeys high — all the way to the top. In less than 6 seconds, the race is over, and mere milliseconds can set them apart.

But behind those fleeting moments are years of training, discipline, and dedication to the sport. Showing up 5 days a week, our national speed climbing athletes Jeanette, Adre, and Ezell train to climb faster and higher, all while balancing their other commitments.

Speed climbers racing up the 15m rock wall during training.

Beyond the climb: a story of speed and solidarity

In the world of sport climbing, there are three main disciplines: bouldering, lead, and speed.

Bouldering focuses on finding the best route on a complex wall, and lead climbing is about scaling the greatest distance with a belayer. Speed climbing, however, involves completing a standardised 15m wall in the shortest possible time.

For that reason, these three athletes were drawn to the thrill of speed climbing. Each millisecond they shave off fuels the rush - and drives them to go even faster.

Though the climb routes are repeated, training is far from simple. “Every new session or training block, you can focus on something new. That’s the refreshing part for me.” Ezell shares. 

Each of them also found their way into climbing differently. 

Jeanette’s family was her first foothold into the sport. The 22-year-old undergraduate started climbing recreationally at 9 with her elder sister, Lynnette. At 13, she joined the national team, following in her sister’s footsteps.

Still, Jeanette didn’t try speed climbing until a year later. “I enjoyed it, but I thought it was the hardest, perhaps because I was a lot younger, a lot smaller. So, everything felt a lot bigger,” she said.

Like Jeanette, 21-year-old Adre was also introduced to the sport by his family. He started training with the national team at 15, with Lynnette as his coach.

For someone who now moves confidently on towering walls, it may be surprising to learn that Adre was once afraid of heights. But climbing with his family helped him gradually overcome that fear and gain confidence on the wall.

As for Ezell, 20, a final-year polytechnic student, his journey began with bouldering through his polytechnic climbing club. He later met Adre at a climbing gym, who roped him into speed climbing.

Just a year after making the switch, Ezell clinched the national record at the 2025 SEA Games, clocking 5.3 seconds. In September 2026, he broke the national record again, clocking 5.28 seconds at the World Climbing Challenger 2026 in Shanghai.

Their initial paths may have been different, but the three athletes are driven by a shared motivation: the exhilaration of getting faster and pushing their limits to improve their performance.

Ezell, climbing the speed wall. He holds the national record at the 2025 Sea Games.

Years of sweat, seconds to glory

To shave off fractions of a second, the athletes have to repeat the same movements again and again. This turns each training session into an opportunity to be faster. 

For Ezell, the pressure comes from feeling that he’s just catching up. “I feel like skipping training is not an option,” he said. “The moment I started speed climbing, everybody already (clocked) 6 seconds, 5 seconds, 4 seconds — so I felt very behind.”

This need to surpass his limits spurs him to new heights, quite literally. Similar to Adre, he initially struggled with a fear of heights. But by scaling the highest segment of the wall over and over, he has warmed up to the task.

Their dedicated training wall at the High Performance Sport Institute in Kallang also allows them to isolate parts of the wall, so they can repeatedly drill specific movements and segments of the route. 

But beyond the physical and mental demands of climbing, the trio also have to balance training with school, family and friends.

They train five times a week, or up to eight times between competition seasons. “Sometimes, it gets a bit tough to manage, because we have to struggle between five projects, presentations and reports in two weeks.” said Jeanette.

At times, Adre shared that he felt tired, moving to training straight after school.

Yet despite their demanding schedules, they continue to muster the will to show up for training, even on days when motivation may be harder to find. As Adre put it: “You only cheat yourself if you skip training.”

Jeanette (left) with her sister Lynnette climbing when they were younger.

The kampong behind the climb

Speed climbing may be an individual race, but behind every athlete is a village of people helping to lift the athletes to their fullest potential.

For Jeanette, the support begins at home. She and her sister’s shared experience in the national team serves as a reminder that they are on this journey together.

“If either of us doesn’t feel like training that day, we still do it because of the other person,” she said. “We just help each other, push each other along until we both achieve what we want to achieve.”

Adre, too, draws strength from his family. Having grown up playing the same sports as his siblings, he always had people close to him who understood the values of hard work and perseverance.

His parents are amongst his biggest supporters, sending him to training sessions and cheering him on at competitions.

Ezell’s parents are less familiar with the sport, but they show up for him where they can. Sometimes, they even put their handyman skills to work, sharing tips on repairing the climbing wall or even physically helping to fix it when needed.

Beyond their families, Jeanette, Adre, and Ezell also lean on each other for support, help with techniques, and encouragement to push further. With that support, the demands of an individual sport turn into a collective effort, as they prepare to step on the regional stage.

Taking the next step as Team Singapore

This year, Jeanette, Adre, and Ezell will represent Singapore at the Asian Games for the first time, marking a significant milestone in their climbing journey.

Adre preparing for a climb during training.

Their individual drive, dedication, and support systems have brought them this far. But now, they’re committed to representing something bigger than themselves.

While breaking the national record was a huge achievement for Ezell, he sees it as just the beginning.

He never thought he’d become a national athlete. Today, he has his sights set even higher. “I haven’t won any medals. My goal has always been the podium on the world stage, so I’m still far away.” Until then, he said: “I feel like I cannot stop for any moment.”

As they speed towards the competition, the opportunity for Jeanette at the Asian Games still feels “unreal”. “We’re very proud, very honoured, and we hope that we will do our best and enjoy every moment to the fullest,” she added.

The trio also shared words of encouragement for fellow Team Singapore athletes. Jeanette hoped for them to “push on and live in the moment”. Adre assured that “no matter the outcome, you have already done your best.” And finally, Ezell reminded them to “simply have fun”.

Above all, they hope taking part in the Asian Games will help promote speed climbing as a sport, and inspire others to give it a shot. 

As our Team Singapore speed climbing athletes take on the 2026 Asian Games, let’s continue to cheer them on!