AFTER six days of intense competition
off Auckland’s Takapuna
Beach, Elizabeth Yin cruised through the final
two races at the Women’s Laser
Radial World Championship
yesterday to earn Singapore an
Olympic berth in the event, a
first for the Republic’s female
sailors.
The 17-year-old came in
12th in the penultimate race
in the gold fleet, before ending
her campaign with a 34th placed
finish.
The Victoria Junior College
student was ranked 19th overall,
but crucially, among the
group of 23 nations vying for
the six remaining spots at the
Olympic Games in August, she
emerged in second spot, behind
Sweden.
The other qualifiers were
Spain (their best sailor finished
third behind Elizabeth),
Greece, Croatia and Ireland.
Elizabeth’s team-mate Lo
Man Yi, 20, finished in 35th
spot, while 17-year-old Singapore
Sports School student Victoria
Chan was ranked seventh
in the silver fleet.
SingaporeSailing will
choose the top overall performer
to represent the
country in the Laser Radial
Olympic event, after the sailors
compete at the Expert Olympic
Garda (Italy), Semaine
Olympique Francaise (France)
and Delta Lloyd Regatta
(Netherlands) competitions between
April and May.
Ironically, Elizabeth could
miss the trials.
Speaking over the telephone
from Auckland yesterday,
she said: “I don’t know if
I’ll be at the trials … helping
Singapore qualify for the
Olympics was quite unexpected
for me as I didn’t think I
would do so well.
“I’ve missed school for the
past three months due to training
and overseas competitions.
“It’s something that I’ll
have to discuss with SingaporeSailing,
my parents and
my school before I decide.”
SingaporeSailing’s head of
high performance, Mark Robinson,
said that a decision would
be made after they meet with
her family.
Elizabeth’s success means
Singapore will feature in three
sailing events — 470 men’s,
Laser Standard men and Laser
Radial women — at the 2008
Olympics, which will be held
in waters off Qingdao, China.
470 men’s pairs Chung Pei
Ming and Roy Tay, Xu Yuan
Zhen and Terence Koh, and
Teo Wee Chin and Benjamin
Tan will battle to fly the flag in
China, while Koh Seng Leong
will lead a group of sailors in the
fight for the Laser Standard
spot.
This is the first time Singapore
has qualified for three
sailing events at the Olympic
Games.
Singapore’s previous
Olympic sailing qualifiers were
Laser Standard sailors Benedict
Tan (Atlanta 1996) and
Stanley Tan (Sydney 2000).
Said SingaporeSailing president,
Low Teo Ping: “Qualifying
for three classes is historical
and the success is attributed
to teamwork — of the sailors
and the supporting cast in Singapore
and overseas.”
Low says the work is far
from over, and added: “As we’ve
never qualified for three events
before, we’ll have to go back
to the drawing board to establish
the supporting requirements
needed.
“We’ll need at least a 50
to 70 per cent increase in funding,
which will be at least a few
million dollars more.
“This is not going to be
SingaporeSailing’s individual
effort, it’s a national effort.
“We will need to talk to the
Singapore Sports Council and
the Project 0812 committee.”
