(From left) Sailors Xu Yuanzhen, Toh Liying, Deborah Ong, head coach Craig Ferris and Terence Koh have been hard at work since arriving at their training camp in Qingdao on Thursday.

The fun can wait, as Singapore’s Olympic squad focus on the challenge ahead

IT’S every athlete’s dream to be at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. But not, it seems, Singapore’s Olympic sailors, based in Qingdao, some 850km away from the hurly-burly of Beijing.

For they’d rather focus on the task at hand than join Team Singapore in the Chinese capital for Friday’s fireworks and cultural extravaganza in the Bird’s Nest.

“The sailors were told that we wouldn’t be going, but now, there’s a chance we’ll go if our preparations go well,” said team captain Koh Seng Leong in a phone interview from Qingdao yesterday.

“We’re excited about being there, but it’s secondary to what we have to do here.”

Men’s Laser Standard sailor Koh and Xu Yuanzhen and Terence Koh (men’s 470), Lo Man Yi (women’s Laser Radial) and Deborah Ong and Toh Liying (women’s 470) arrived in the coastal city of Qingdao last Thursday and have settled into the athletes’ village.

Their daily regime starts with fitness sessions in the morning, followed by on-site training in the afternoon. Evenings at the village consists of debriefs with the sailing coaches and sessions with the physiotherapist or psychologist.

SingaporeSailing’s high performance chief and team manager Mark Robinson said preparations were on track.

“The team are doing fine and they’re getting into their normal routine,” he said. “We’re getting light winds here and the water’s clear of algae.”

The 470 men’s and women’s pairs will take to the waters on Aug 11, competing in 10 races — two each day. Sailors are allowed to discard their weakest finish, with the top 10 boats advancing into one final medal race.

For Koh, whose laser standard event begins on Aug 12, the next eight days will be spent adapting to the different conditions off the Qingdao coast.

“On the first day, I encountered light winds and the water was choppy... it’s a condition that I wasn’t accustomed to and I need to train more on it before the competition starts,” said the 24-year-old.

But the team are definitely prepared, as men’s 470 sailor Xu said: “All of our three sails (main/jib/spinnaker) are specially purchased because we believe they will fit the conditions here.

“There are two things that we will focus on — patience and technicality — and watching out for good currents.”

And until the races begin, they are not letting anything distract them, even forsaking a tempting dish of fried kway teow for breakfast yesterday.

Said Koh: “There was fried kway teow courtesy of a Malaysian chef, but none of us ate it because we’re all on a strict diet... It was just eggs and toast for me as I like to get into my routine before a major competition like the Olympics.”

OLYMPICS SAILING SCHEDULE
Aug 11
— Men’s 470 (Xu Yuan Zhen and Terence Koh)
— Women’s 470 (Toh Liying and Deborah Ong)
Aug 12
— Men’s laser standard (Koh Seng Leong)
— Women’s laser radial (Lo Man Yi)