In Pursuit of Academic and Athletic Ambitions

By Ashima Thomas, UWCSEA Communications Team
8 January 2026

Viggo and Milo appear to be living dual lives. As High School students at East Campus they navigate the commitments of IB, Activities, Service and more. At the same time, they train for up to 27-hours per week as elite gymnasts, and jet off across the world to compete at the highest level of the sport.

*UWCSEA East student Milo, G11, practices on the rings.*

UWCSEA East student Viggo, G12, on the gymnastics high bar — *UWCSEA East student Viggo, G12, on the parallel bars.*

Milo, Grade 11, is on the Irish National team and Viggo, Grade 12, is on the Swedish National team. They started gymnastics at the young ages of 5 and 6 when neither had an inkling that it would come to dominate their future plans. Milo is now working towards the 2026 or 2030 Commonwealth Games and Viggo is eyeing the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

Milo’s Journey

Milo started at East Campus in Grade 1 and joined the Men’s Junior Gymnastics team under Coach Desmond Cheng who remains his coach to this day. Four years later he decided to forgo other sports in favour of developing his gymnastics skills. His dedication led him to compete at SEASAC and FOBISIA. He then paved a path to international competitions, such as the Singapore Open, the JRC Invitational in Thailand, and the National Series in Ireland among others. Milo is now firmly on the road to competing with some of the best gymnasts in the world. “I knew that I loved gymnastics, or that I had potential to excel in it when I first started training with the Singapore National Squad in January 2023. This sparked a new chapter in my journey, moving from school to elite level gymnastics. It’s a privilege to train alongside other amazing athletes—I have quickly developed new skills and techniques and had lots of fun training with them,” says Milo

Viggo’s Journey

Viggo loves competitions. He’s been to the European Youth Olympic Festival, Junior European Championships and Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, to name a few. His parents first introduced him to gymnastics because he loved to “jump around” and “climb on everything” as a kid. But he says it wasn’t easy, or a natural fit. “When I was 8-years old, I always came last in all the competitions. I was the worst in my club team, so it was tough,” says Viggo. His parents encouraged him to keep going, and eventually around the age of 12 he won his first competition. “I saw how all the hard work was starting to pay off,” says Viggo, who emphasised that competitions aren’t his only source of motivation, but “training hard and completing new skills, that’s a big part. Seeing that all the time you put in actually leads to something in the end.”

Mental and Physical Wellbeing

Managing academics, training, and competitions can be stressful. Training sessions can be tough, run for hours and lead to moments of wanting to give up. Milo shared that at times, he’s had to forgo much-needed sleep to complete homework and assignments. Both he and Viggo maximise their time during commutes by reading for class or getting additional sleep. Despite the pressures, both students have cultivated the same strategy to push through: Discipline.

“Maintaining a stringent and disciplined schedule has benefited me, ensuring that my time is managed well and that I can complete any important assignments on time and to a high standard,” says Milo. “Of course you have to give up a lot of things like free time, parties, and being with friends every weekend. In the end, it’s worth it you know? It’s been tough, but discipline is the main thing,” says Viggo.

An Ecosystem of Support

The UWCSEA community plays an important role in supporting our athletes. Coaches, staff, vice principals and heads of grades are understanding of the pressures and students have agency to forge pathways that match their educational and sporting aspirations. As high academic achievers, Viggo and Milo’s teachers are mindful of maintaining balance. For example, they are able to offer flexibility with home learning alongside other types of support.

“So far it’s been amazing. Teachers understand when I’ve had to go away for competitions and training camps. They’ve trusted me to do the work and they’ve offered help and support outside of classes,” says Viggo. Milo echoes this sentiment adding, “I often receive a lot of support from the parents as well as the Dragons community. I’m involved in assemblies and slideshows that showcase my events and competitions.”

The College provides athletes structured mechanisms of support such as cross-campus performance camps, training by sports professionals, and access to top-notch facilities. The Gymnastics Hall at East Campus, for example, recently saw the addition of a foam pit adding more safety and a confidence boost for students learning difficult aerial skills.

Creating Ripples

Recently, Sam Oldham, retired Gymnast and Olympic Bronze Medallist with Team GB (Great Britain) spoke at a performance camp at East Campus. His comments summed up the impact that dedicated athletes like Viggo and Milo have in our community: “It only takes one athlete in a sport to do well for others to look at them and go, ‘Whoa, you know, I’m from the same place as this person… Maybe that could be me too.’”