SMU second-year finance student Russell Ong is a national swimmer and one of the stars in a recent local film, Ghost Child. Despite enjoying the new-found thrills of being behind the camera, he never forgot his first love - swimming - and despite the hectic schedule, he still attended as many morning training sessions as he could. Today, Ong, who clocked 22.97sec in the 50m freestyle in 2009, is the only Singaporean to clock a sub-23 time after national record holder Ang Peng Siong (22.69) back in 1982. Besides his national record, Ong, who stands at 1.78m, also wants to be South-east Asia's fastest man. He tried three times - in 2007, 2009 and 2011 - to bag the SEA Games gold medal, but finished third each time. That elusive gold is what keeps Ong, who is the oldest member of the national men's team, driven. He says: "It's this monkey I have to get off my back before I quit and the 22.69 is also very tempting. I feel like if I can devote myself to it, it can be done. It's only a matter of time."