After being re-elected president of the Singapore Sailing Federation at Tuesday's virtual annual general meeting (AGM), Dr Lincoln Chee pledged to support national sailors bidding to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

He also highlighted the need to be forward thinking, particularly with new events like a mixed two-person offshore race and a mixed kiteboarding relay, which will both debut at the 2024 Paris Games.

Dr Chee, 56, said: "We will be engaging our stakeholders and club members to see how sailing activities can be resumed fully as it is an important part of our physical and mental well-being.

"We also want to encourage our sailors who are still campaigning for the Olympic Games to not stop pursuing their dreams and we are all behind their efforts."

He singled out 49erFX skiff duo Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low, who are the reigning Asian Games champions and have earned their spot at next year's Olympics, as well as junior kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder.

The 13-year-old ranked 17th of 122 at the 2019 Kitefoil World Series, was the Asian champion at the 2019 Formulate Kite Asian Championships in Beihai, China and Singapore's sole representative at the 2019 World Beach Games in Qatar.

This year's AGM was originally planned for before June 30 but was postponed because of Covid-19.

Besides Dr Chee, Pamela Goh was also re-elected as a vice-president while newcomers in the executive committee included 2006 Asian Games champion Roy Tay (vice-president) and 2005 SEA Games champion Tok Lee Ching (deputy treasurer). They will all serve until 2022.

Tay, 37, captured two silver medals at last year's SEA Games in the Philippines and said his experiences as an athlete will be key. He added: "It is only natural to make good use of the knowledge and experience gained and help pave the way for the young ones, like how my seniors did for me."

Tok, a former administrator at national agency Singapore Sports Council (now Sport Singapore) and is now a lecturer at Nanyang Polytechnic, hopes to make sailing and windsurfing more accessible.

She noted: "Sailing and windsurfing are fun sports that can be enjoyed by everyone. I had the opportunity to train and compete at a high level. This is made possible because of the clubs, facilities and coaching personnel."