Elite Athlete – Skater: Marvin Chen
Marvin Chen: The Young Yet Experienced Speed Skating Prodigy
In the sea of talents and skill at Sha Tin College, one of our stars is Marvin Chen – a young, driven speed skater who has racked up quite the career and embodies both a strong mentality and a hardworking mindset on and off the rink. Although being a student-athlete comes with challenges and lessons towards his passion for speedskating, his challenges are a true testament to his dedication and commitment.
Although he is currently a Hong Kong representative for speed skating, he was first introduced to the world of figure skating. However, he made a quick transition to short-track speed skating after his parents noticed his lack of enthusiasm, and has not looked back since.
There is a certain pride and satisfaction that comes with being one of the few skilled enough to represent your own city, and Marvin is no stranger to that. This is not only an honor, but somewhat an obligation to compete and do his best when called to. Of course, being a national athlete also comes with its perks.
“It is pretty cool…there is free housing, there is free clothes, free food which I think is pretty nice, you have access to some amazing coaches, training facilities and sports staff as well..”
Balancing his academic responsibilities with his training and competitions is a challenge Marvin has learned to tackle these head-on. The key, he believes, lies in effective time management and finding study techniques that work for him. His training routine, however gruelling, comprises of around three hours of intense training a day, 5-6 days a week. This schedule is intensified in the summer and winter breaks to around 6 hours and double the regular training time.
Despite the rigours, Marvin relishes the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards his hard work brings. Some of Marvin’s most memorable experiences include placing first in the Hong Kong cup and third in the Asian Trophy. A very honorable achievement granted to not only himself, but to Hong Kong as well. Of course, the journey was never smooth sailing — the balance between staying on top of assignments and handing them in on time before the deadline was a significant hurdle for Marvin, however, he was able to overcome this obstacle by believing in the importance of reaching out and communicating with his teachers, who are able to provide copious amounts of understanding and support.
When it comes to mentally preparing for a race, Marvin’s strategy is simple yet effective. He tries not to overthink or stress himself out and get a good night’s sleep before a fulfilling breakfast in the morning to recharge and gear up for the competition.
Although Marvin doesn’t have any specific goals in the short term in his speed skating career, he is still very excited about what the future holds. Being a student-athlete is a large part of his identity and has played a pivotal role in teaching him crucial life skills like perseverance, resilience as well as the mentality to never give up. This is a skill that can only be learned and then honed through experience and resolve – a very impressive feat to achieve this so young.
A word of advice from Marvin to aspiring young athletes is to balance their passions and studies while maintaining consistency by building a routine and sticking to it. This is one of the most important skills student-athletes must learn to master in order to successfully do their best in both academics as well as athletics. Marvin sees the title ‘student athlete’ as a rather honor and privilege, and urges students to enjoy both the ups and downs of the journey.
We wish Marvin the best of luck in his future endeavors, we will proudly look forward to his achievements as a student Sha Tin College and our future alumni! We are very proud to have him represent both our school and our city!
Written by Dorothy Yeung (Deputy Head of Media, Sports Media Team) and Cyrus Tse (Apprentice Deputy Head of Media, Sports Media Team)
Interview by Dorothy Yeung and Cyrus Tse
Photos taken by Jerome Quek
