SINGAPORE — The country’s fastest swimmer, Joseph Schooling, has done it, as have national track and field team-mates Soh Rui Yong and Ng Chin Hui.

And now, Singapore’s 19-year-old sprint queen Shanti Pereira also wants to join this group of athletes in moving overseas so she can train with some of the world’s top athletes and be under the watchful eyes of a world-renowned coach. This is because Pereira is determined to take her sporting career to the next level.

The teenager has seen how Schooling, who is under the swimming programme at the University of Texas at Austin under the watchful eyes of coach Eddie Reese, is now being dubbed as a medal possibility at the 2016 Olympics.

University of Oregon graduate Soh, who competed at only his only second marathon at the June’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games and took gold, is also aiming to be the first Singaporean to qualify for the men’s marathon at the Olympics.

Pereira will graduate in April 2017 from Republic Polytechnic, where she is pursuing a diploma in Sports and Leisure Management, and she told TODAY that she wants to be the first Singaporean to win an Asian Games medal since Chee Swee Lee won the 400m in 1974.

“To go beyond the SEA Games level, I need to take my training overseas, which will give me more exposure in terms of training with people who are a whole lot better, and also the chance to learn from top-class coaches,” said Pereira on the sidelines of a sponsorship signing ceremony between Singapore Athletics (SA) and traditional Chinese medicine firm Kin Teck Tong yesterday.

“I hope to make the finals of the Asian Games in the next edition in 2018, and I need to keep improving.

“I have not decided which university to go to yet, but if I make the move in 2017, that will give me about a year’s time to prepare for it (2018 Asian Games).”

Earlier this June, Pereira made a nation sit up and take notice by clinching Singapore’s first gold in a women’s track event since 1975, when she stormed to first place in the 200m race at the 2015 SEA Games, setting a national record of 23.60 secs. The time would have placed her in fifth spot at the 2014 Asian Games.

“That win gave me a lot of confidence that I can achieve better things, and it brought me a step closer to where I want to be in the future,” she said.

“As for the Olympics, I am hoping to qualify via merit or by wildcard to go to the 2016 edition. That would give me some experience in competing on the international stage, and put me in a better place if I were to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, which is my main goal.”

The 2016 Olympics qualifying time for the women’s 200m is 23.20, and Pereira would need to shave 0.4s off her personal best, the 23.60 national record. She takes confidence that she has cut the same margin off (0.39s) her personal best in less than 12 months, in winning gold at June’s SEA Games.

SA president Tang Weng Fei, who calls Pereira “one of our brightest talents” alongside Soh and fellow marathoner Mok Ying Ren, and 400m runner Zubin Muncherji, believes she has what it takes to win an Asian Games medal. But he has some advice for Pereira as she contemplates her overseas move.

“The SA is in talks with Shanti and her family about letting her study and train overseas, and we are seeing if we can partially fund her, or if she can get a scholarship. We are exploring the options,” said Tang. “As for her studies, I think the University of Oregon will be a good option.

“Shanti is young and, if she goes over and joins Chin Hui, it will help that she has a fellow Singaporean to guide her and help settle down.”