Athletes are admired for the sacrifices they make for their sports—they wake up early to go to the gym, they force themselves through painful conditioning, and they spend hours practicing when they could be doing something more fun.

But rarely does someone sacrifice something as basic as sleep.

Harvard junior Richard Hill, of the men’s varsity squash team, did just that, going nearly seven months without sleeping for more than two hours at a time.

Hill is Singaporean, and in 2005, after high school, he joined the Singapore Armed Forces to serve the mandatory two-year tour.

An avid squash player from a squash-loving family, Hill at first found himself unable to practice his sport except on weekends.

After nine months, when his basic training was complete, Hill became an infantry sergeant and was posted to the Field Defense Squadron at an air base.

At this point, he negotiated a deal with his superiors, in which he was allowed to leave the base from 3 p.m. to midnight to attend squash National Training.

This leave essentially counted as his shift off, and in exchange for it Hill was forced to be on duty from midnight to 6 a.m., and active for the rest of the day until 3 p.m.

So when did Hill sleep?

He slept, he reveals, when he was on duty. Stationed at night at the base, Hill was in charge of distributing and taking back ammunition at every change of guard. The guard changed every two hours, so Hill slept on a bed in his office for three two-hour increments each night.

Catching up on sleep later was not an option either. Hill slept in this manner five days a week, for nearly seven months straight.

“I had to do my job along with the rest of the squadron,” Hill explains. “But managed to work something out with my superior officers.”

Due to his dedication, Hill represented Singapore in the 2006 Asian Squash Championships in Taiwan. In the past three years, Hill has also become an integral part of the Harvard team. He will likely play number two or three on the ladder this year.

“He just pushes himself through where most people would not be able to,” co-captain Frank Cohen notes.

Few would be able to put themselves through such an experience, but Hill knew squash was his top priority.