SEA Games sailing champion Ryan Lo among S’pore’s squad heading to Cambodia

SINGAPORE – A youthful sailing team at this year’s SEA Games in Cambodia will be led by three-time gold medallist Ryan Lo, who will be making his fourth appearance at the biennial competition.

Lo, the laser standard champion at the 2017 and 2019 Games, is the only sailor in the 10-athlete squad who has competed in previous editions of the regional event.

With the laser renamed the ILCA after a copyright dispute with the European-based manufacturer of the class, the 26-year-old, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, will be taking part in the ILCA 7 event this time.

Lo said: “The goal would be to enjoy another Games experience and chip away with small gains as I try to defend my SEA Games title.

“It is quite a young team with many debutants in major Games and being one of the most senior in the team, I definitely would like to help the team as much as I can in terms of my Games knowledge and experience in high-pressure events like these.”

The other nine will be making their Games debut in Cambodia, where the sailing events will be staged at the coastal city of Sihanoukville from April 28 to May 8.

“The SEA Games are an important stepping stone for many of our junior and youth athletes along the Olympic pathway,” said Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) deputy president Stanley Chan, who is also the federation’s Olympic pathway taskforce chairman.

“With the SEA Games experience and preferably tasting success, it boosts their confidence to campaign for the other bigger events like the Asian and the Olympic Games.”

Sailing is making a return to the SEA Games after it was omitted from the previous edition in Hanoi.

In Vietnam, Singapore’s contingent of 424 athletes across 33 sports clinched 47 gold, 46 silver and 71 bronze medals.

At the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, Singapore were third in the medal table for sailing, with one gold and five silvers.

Over the past decade, the Republic’s sailors have brought home 20 golds from four SEA Games.

In Cambodia, they will take part in the Optimist, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, RS:X, RS: One, iQFoil and 29er events.

While the majority of the team will be making their bow at the Games, some have enjoyed encouraging results on the international stage in recent times.

Ethan Chia, who will be taking part in the Optimist mixed event, finished second in the open category at the International Optimist Dinghy Association Asian and Oceanian Championships in December.

In preparation for the SEA Games, the team were sent for competitions and training camps in Asia and Europe.

SSF high performance and coaches head Chung Pei Ming believes those will help them get ready for competition in Cambodia.

ILCA 4 sailor Isaac Goh was in Pakistan in late March while Ethan and Cheryl Yong (Optimist) were in Lake Garda, Italy, in April.

Windsurfers David Ng and Jayson Tan competed in the Pattaya Cup, while iQFoiler Elkan Oh and Lo, who is based in Europe, both took part in last week’s Princess Sofia Regatta.

ILCA 6 sailor Jania Ang and the 29er duo Ellyn Tan and Chia Teck Pin were at training camps in Hong Kong and Australia respectively.

Chung said: “With great support from the Singapore Sport Institute and the National Youth Sports Institute, the team is being prepared to their best with training camps, sport science workshops, and a 10-day pre-event venue familiarisation phase.

“The accumulated experience of the support team of coaches and scientists will cover all angles to ensure the sailors are prepared to their best come race day.”