Finding Her Way

Mission Viejo senior Nicolette Teo, a 2000 Olympian and a defending Southern Section swimming champion, recently found herself in the throes of homesickness, which nearly sent her all the way back to Singapore.

Teo would attend daily practices but then would have to overcome fatigue to finish the workouts. Even worse, and for the first time in her life, she felt out of sorts in the water and had to force herself to go to weekend meets.

“That’s so weird, because swimmers live for the meets,” Teo said. “But I was just really tired. I’d get really down, and there were times when I just wanted to go home.”

Teo and her mother left their native Singapore in February 2002 and arrived in the United States in search of top-flight swim competition.

Teo won the 100-yard breaststroke title last May in the Southern Section Division I championships. Her time of 1 minute 2.17 seconds surpassed the school record of 1:04.39 set by Dawn Rodighiero in 1980.

The youngest member of Singapore’s 2000 Olympics contingent as a 14-year-old, Teo did not advance out of her heat in the 200-meter breaststroke in the Sydney Games. Her time of 2:37.39 was good for only sixth place.

Teo has hopes of attaining qualifying times for this summer’s Olympics in Athens in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events during the Swim Meet of Champions in May at Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo.

But homesickness and depression that bothered her as recently as two months ago nearly derailed those plans.

“Since moving here, I’ve had to go through a lot of adjustments with new coaches, a new school and the cultural differences,” Teo said. “Going through change is hard, and sometimes the feeling of homesickness was almost too much.”

Her sunny nature subdued and suddenly unsure of her goals, Teo lost her desire to swim and pondered the idea of moving back to Singapore and skipping this year’s Olympic trials.

“I missed the food back home a lot, and I missed my friends and just the feeling that you’re home,” she said. “It’s that feeling of being able to walk down the street and know you belong.”

The thought of passing up an opportunity for Olympic competition may confound U.S. swimmers and their fans, but with Singapore unlikely to make much of a splash on the worldwide Olympic stage, which the United States and Australia have dominated, the Southeast Asian Games are the more significant meet in Teo’s native country.

That’s where she burst on the national scene when she upset Singapore’s top swimmer, Texas graduate Joscelin Yeo, in the 200 breaststroke at age 13.

Amid the angst and indecision, heart-to-heart talks with her mother, Doreen, helped alleviate pressure and provide perspective. Her father, Adrian Teo, has continued living and working in Singapore.

“I think Nic has learned a lot about herself,” her mother said. “After we came here, she went through a growth spurt and cultural changes, and I think it brought on the question of, ‘Who am I?’ She lost a lot of confidence. But it’s coming back now, and coming back stronger.”

Discussions with coaches and lengthy, almost daily phone conversations with her best friend in Singapore contributed to Teo’s change of heart about returning home and a renewed but less-consuming commitment to preparation for the Olympics.

“It was definitely a huge decision,” she said. “It took me so long, but I talked to my coaches and everybody that I trusted, and once I made my decision, it was like a burden lifted off of me.”

With a lighter load and heart, Teo has picked up speed in the high school season.She has season-best and Southern Section preliminary qualifying times of 1:02.46 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 2:05.12 in the 200 individual medley.

She has won the 100 backstroke event in 1:01.42 and the 100 freestyle in 52.60 and anchors the 200-medley and 400-free relays.

Teo even won the 500 freestyle (5:08.16) in a nonleague victory over Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro last week.