David Lim was 19 years old when he swept to a 6-medal haul at the 13th SEA Games (1985) held in Bangkok, Thailand. What made it all the more remarkable was the fact that they were all gold medals.

The backstroke 'specialist' in individual and individual medley events took-up swimming at the very young age of seven years. He donned Singapore colours in 1981 and within the next few years emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the Republic's top swimmers.

Two years later, up against proven swim champions like Lukman Niode of Indonesia and William Wilson of the Philippines, David's task was made no less easy. In the 200m Individual Medley, David won his first gold inspite of the strong challenges from Lukman and William. He then stormed home in the 100m and 200m backstroke to take another two golds.

Those stunning feats helped David Lim bag an incredible 6 gold medals (3 games records) on his way to receiving the Sportsman of the Year award for 1985.

Proving that his breathtaking performances in Bangkok two years earlier were not a flash in the pan, David Lim came to the fore again at the 14th SEA Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. At the Senayan pool in Jakarta David came away one shy of his 6 gold haul from Bangkok, replacing the gold he won at the 200m Individual Medley with a silver this time around. At the '87 Games, however, he set 5 games records - two better than he did in the '85 edition of the games. Still, David's gold medal feats deservedly earned him the "Best Performer" selection at the 14th SEA Games.

That selection clinched for him the Sportsman of the Year award for 1987, making it the second time in three years that he took the award.

David's hat-trick came a year later when in 1988 at the Seoul Olympic Games he was placed 6th in the 100 metre backstroke B finals in a time of 57:72 seconds; he earned an overall 14th position for the 100m backstroke event. To have achieved that at the pinnacle of world sport, David Lim was selected as the Sportsman of the Year for 1998, thereby making him one of just four such hallowed Singaporean athletes to be so honoured since the first awards were given out in 1967 (up until the present time of 2008).