(Singapore, Tuesday – 23rd August) Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF), the National Sports Association that administers the sport of sailing in Singapore are proud to report that the Singapore Sailing Team has surpassed all previous Olympic Games performance with the 49er FX team qualifying for the medal. Laser sailor Ryan Lo also recorded strong top 10 finishes in two of the 10 races he competed in.
It was a clear message that our sailors are able to rank amongst the best in the world at the Olympic platform, the gap that SSF had set out to close since the 2012. Olympic debutants Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low started their regatta in strong and choppy conditions for the first two days of the regatta. In the later half of the qualifying races, the conditions simmered down to a light and shifty setting and the girls finished off the 12 races and posted the first ever race win at the Olympic Games for Singapore in Race 11. For the medal race, the duo put up a good fight and posted the best ever result for Singapore in overall 10th at the Olympic Games.
After the splendid performance in the medal race, the duo who had been based in Europe for the last 4 years and had not been home since January 2021 said, ‘that the Olympics actually happened was fantastic. It feels like we have come a full circle since we started sailing together 6 years ago. Now it’s time to get some rest and catch up with family back home.”
Laser Standard sailor Ryan Lo was also attending his first Olympic Games. Ryan convincingly showed that he was able to keep pace with the fleet finishing 2nd and 6th in two races, the best results ever achieved by a Singaporean laser sailor . Ryan finished 21st overall and is on a plane back to Europe to start University .
Windsurfer Amanda Ng is the first sailor to represent Singapore in two different classes at the Olympic Games, in the 470 as a crew in 2016 and as a windsurfer in 2020. Suffering from a knee injury that happened during the Olympic qualifying event in April, Amanda fought hard to be in Tokyo and finished overall 26th .
Team Manager Chung Pei Ming who was with the sailors in Tokyo quickly summarised the past 3 weeks of preparation and competition at Enoshima Island, “to be able to feel victorious at the Olympic Games when our sailors are returning to the shore shows that we have made huge steps forward and Singapore can be competitive at future Olympic Games.”
SingaporeSailing President, Dr Lincoln Chee said, “We are so happy for Kimberly and Cecilia ending their Olympic campaign with 10th spot in the Overall Standings. They have edged past USA, Australia, New Zealand and other top sailing nations. The duo has done Singapore proud and for that matter, the only team representing South East Asia in Women’s 49er FX class. Our team of Olympic sailors have laid a new mark of achievement for Singapore sailing and we want to thank the coaches and the sailors for their commitment, hard work and sacrifice.
Singapore Sailing Federation would like to thank the Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth, Sport Singapore, National Youth Sport Institute , the families and our sailing community for supporting our efforts and believing in our sailors.