S’pore’s sailors return home to a hero’s welcome after Asian Games triumph

SINGAPORE – Loud cheers and chants broke out among the 50 supporters at the Changi Airport T1 late Thursday night, as Singapore’s sailing team walked into the arrival hall with their Asian Games medals around their necks.

The 13-member contingent returned home from Hangzhou with two golds, two silvers and three bronzes, an improvement from the 2018 edition in Jakarta where they claimed a gold and bronze.

Maximilian Maeder and Ryan Lo clinched golds in the Formula Kite and ILCA 7 events – the only golds to date from Team Singapore’s 431-strong contingent at the ongoing Asian Games.

The other medallists in sailing were: silver and bronze from Issac Goh and Keira Carlyle (ILCA 4), a silver from husband and wife duo Justin Liu and Denise Lim (Nacra17) and bronze medals from Victoria Chan (ILCA6), Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low (49erFX).

Thanking the supporters who turned up at the airport close to midnight, Maximilian said: “The Asian games have been very competitive, of course it’s not everyone in the world all at once, but the level is high and for sure, it’s a respectable competition.”

He will next compete in the KiteFoil World Series in Trausee, Austria on Oct 5.

Lo shared the same sentiments as he felt that he had a “tough first day” at the games, saying: “I had to really dig deep and try to focus and pull everything I know and try to focus on what I can do, not what I cannot control.”

After spending weeks away from home, the sailors were delighted to see their parents, friends and supporters from the Singapore Sailing Federation at the airport.

Calling his Asiad outing a “remarkable and amazing” experience, Liu said: “We are very happy with how we did, we put in a lot of effort for many years, this is our first Asian Games as a pair, to be able to achieve something like this, we are overjoyed.”

Waving her medal as she entered the arrival hall, Lim added later: “Thank you to everyone who’s been watching our races, following us, we are very happy that we are sharing this medal with everyone.”

For the 49erFX pair of Kimberly and Low, the disappointment of finishing third “was a bit hard to swallow” as the duo had won gold in the 2018 edition.

But she added: “Ultimately, the more important thing for us going forward now is the Asian qualifiers for the Olympic Games and we will work towards that.”