Singapore Sailing Federation working to help kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder with potential NS deferment
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
World champion kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder turns 18 in September 2024, a month after the Paris Olympics.
PHOTO: KITEFOIL WORLD SERIES
SINGAPORE – The Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) is working with the relevant government bodies regarding potential national service (NS) deferment for world champion kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder.
The SSF’s head of high performance and coaching, Chung Pei Ming, told The Straits Times on Monday that Maximilian has been identified as an athlete “who will need some support to work sports around NS obligations”, with both the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and Ministry of Defence (Mindef) in the loop.
The home-schooled teenager, who won the first leg of the Kitefoil World Series in Austria on Sunday – less than two weeks after clinching the Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou – turns 18 in September 2024, a month after the Paris Olympics.
He had secured a spot for the Paris OIympics in August
This came after he picked up his third consecutive gold at July’s Formula Kite Youth World Championships in Gizzeria, Italy.
Keeping an eye on his development beyond the 2024 Games, Chung said: “For his (Max’s) case it still depends on what his results are for the Olympic Games. There’s nothing concrete, but MCCY and Mindef know of this athlete and that maybe some arrangement might be needed for him.”
Adding that “country comes first before sports”, Chung said: “When the time comes, Max will need to serve his obligation.”
Mindef had said previously that long-term deferment from full-time NS is granted “very selectively for exceptional sportsmen” who are assessed to be potential medal winners at international competitions like the Olympic Games and are able to bring national pride to Singapore.
Swimmers Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen were the most recent cases of long-term deferment.
Schooling and Quah’s deferments began in 2014 and 2015 respectively to help them prepare for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where Schooling won a historic 100m butterfly title.
Their deferments were extended to help them train for the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics and ended in August 2021, following disappointing Games campaigns in Tokyo for both of them. Quah recently completed his full-time NS, while Schooling is still serving.
When asked about his NS obligations, Maximilian told ST: “I am very fortunate to have great support with the SSF and (Singapore) Sport Institute, helping to advocate for a deferment.
(From left) On the podium, Flo Gruber of Germany, Singapore's Maximilian Maeder and Denis Taradin of Cyprus.
PHOTO: KITEFOIL WORLD SERIES
“All I can do is place my faith in the people that support me and respect any decision that the ministry and federation make.”
On his latest triumph on Sunday in Traunsee, Austria, where he came out tops ahead of Germany’s Flo Gruber and Cyprus’ Denis Taradin, Maximilian said: “It’s nice to see that against other competitors here in Europe, I’m still able to compete against them, show up (and) perform well.
“It did require a little more fortune this time because I had to get lucky in certain moments. (It is) a different type of competition than at the Asian Games.”
He will be heading to Cagliari, Italy, for the second leg of the Kitefoil World Series on Wednesday, before taking a short break in Singapore ahead of the series’ final leg in Zhuhai, China, on Nov 29. His last competition of 2023 will be the Youth Sailing World Championships in Buzios, Brazil, on Dec 8.
Chung was elated with Maximilian’s performance, saying: “He is definitely still showing the rest of the world that he is the best and taking part in these competitions is necessary in his lead-up to the Olympic preparation.
“Really satisfied with how he’s going and his commitment to staying on the path of excellence.”
