SIBLING RIVALRY: Schoolgirl sailor Rachel Lee is hoping to
accomplish something her brother, Sean, never did - win a
South-east Asia Games gold in the Optimist class. -- ST PHOTO:
EDWIN KOO
- FOR the
past few
years,
Rachel Lee,
14, has had
to live in
brother
Sean Lee's
shadow.
Nothing
surprising
as Sean,
16, is
already a
sailing
champion,
having
collected
one Asean
and two
Asian
Optimist
titles since
2005.
But, next
month,
Rachel,
who has
yet to bag
a major
individual
accolade,
will be
hoping to
accomplish something Sean never did - win a South-east Asia Games
gold.
Sean was the favourite for the Optimist event in the last SEA Games in
2005, but he was upset by Malaysian Alvin Yeow and had to settle for
silver.
Asked if she would be delighted to score one over Sean, and the shy,
pixie-faced Singapore Sports School student nodded repeatedly.
'I'm aiming for two Optimist golds actually,' she replied.
Apart from the individual event,
Rachel is also targeting top spot in
team racing.
Singapore's other Optimist sailors in
Pattaya for the Dec 6-15 Games are
Darren Choy, Luke Tan, Russell Kan
and Daniella Ng.
They leave for Thailand today for
their final preparations. Thailand and
Malaysia pose the biggest hurdles to
the local sailors' quest for glory.
Said Sean, who will be cheering his sister on from Singapore: 'If she wins
a gold, I'll definitely be happy for her.'
Rachel can bank on history and current form.
The Republic's girls have won individual Optimist medals in the biennial
Games since 1997, except when sailing did not feature in the 1999 and
2003 editions.
Their past winners were Joan Huang (1997) and former world champion
Griselda Khng (2005).
The Optimist class is a single-handed dinghy designed for youngsters
aged 15 and below.
Rachel was also part of the five-member side that took the team silver in
the World Championships in July.
Singapore finished as the top Asian nation in Italy, losing to Greece in the final.
She also grabbed the women's individual bronze to be the top South-east
Asian sailor.
Not bad for someone who, at age seven, accidentally smacked her head
against the boat's boom in her first on-the-water test.
She said: 'Thankfully, I wasn't injured but, because of the knock, I was
afraid of the sport.
'It was my father, Stanley, a former sailing instructor, who encouraged
me to carry on.'
Rachel's love for sailing grew over the years. She enjoyed most the level
of tactical knowledge and quick thinking needed.
Observers praise her astute tactical sense on the water and strong
self-belief even when the odds are stacked against her.
The fan of animation movies like Ratatouille is already being tipped for
bigger things.
Said national Optimist coach Maximilian Soh, a Laser gold medallist at
last year's Asian Games and the 2005 SEA Games: 'If Rachel keeps
improving, she has the potential and ability to be better than Griselda.'
Indeed. Rachel is certainly on the cusp of stepping out of her elder
brother's shadow.
Read more stories on the 24th SEA Games here. |
