SINGAPORE: Four Team Singapore kayakers are hoping to clinch their spots in the Paris Games at the Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifiers in Tokyo this week.
Among them are Brandon Ooi, 29, and Daniel Koh, 27, two of the fastest paddlers in the nation who are teaming up in the men's kayak double 500m sprint.
The pair said the stakes are high as the competition is fierce and only one pair will qualify for the Games.
“The Olympic qualifier is not a small race. The countries (competing) in Asia are really strong and we have to do a lot of work to be able to beat them. The pressure is on and we are working really hard to improve every aspect of our race,” the men said.
Team Singapore athletes Brandon Ooi (L) and Daniel Koh (R) speak to CNA during training for the men's kayak double 500m sprint qualifiers.
They added that trust and confidence in each other are crucial under intense pressure during competition.
“In the boat, Brandon is in front and I’m behind. The trust and faith that I put in him to bring us steadily to the finish line is what keeps me focused and in the game during the race,” said Koh.
“Daniel is very strong and has a lot of power in his strokes. My role in the boat is to manage and kind of control that power. 500m is not an all-out sprint, we have to pace ourselves and have that (spurt) at the end,” said Ooi.
As the two are teaming up for the very first time, they have had to train harder to ensure they work perfectly in tandem with each other.
“There are a lot more variables in the doubles. The way each of us paddle is a little bit different (from the other). Each person has his own little things to work on when we paddle together. It's a work in progress, but I think we’re getting better,” said Ooi.
The national team paddlers hope to cross the finish line in under one-and-a-half minutes during the qualifiers from Apr 18 to 21.
Joining them in Tokyo and also vying for spots in the Paris Olympic Games in August will be 33-year-old Lucas Teo in the men's kayak 1000m sprint, and 32-year-old Stephenie Chen in the women's kayak 500m sprint.
As the quartet trains hard for Paris, the local canoeing and kayaking scene is working to attract more enthusiasts to the sport and nurture a growing pool of talent.
The Singapore Canoe Federation said more people have taken up canoeing and kayaking as a hobby in recent times, with interest nearly doubling over the past three to four years.
“The sport has grown exponentially in recent years, partially due to the pandemic, when everything was closed. No one could travel and so they looked inland at the bodies of water here,” said Nicholas Yap, president of the sport’s national governing body.
More organisations are offering recreational paddling as part of their line-up of activities, including the People’s Association’s PAssion Wave community water sports centres and other ocean clubs in East Coast and Sentosa.
The fraternity hopes to ride that wave to spur more people to take up the sport by building more facilities to make it easier for both recreational paddlers and aspiring professional sportsmen to hop onboard.
"We would like to build more clubs in all the bodies of water in Singapore … and generate that (base of paddlers) into high performance and elite athletes who hopefully get us medals at major games,” said Yap.
The federation is working closely with ActiveSG under a joint Canoe Academy to foster the next generation of paddlers.
It runs programmes across Singapore for those aged between nine and 14 years old at MacRitchie Reservoir, Marina Reservoir, Jurong Lake Gardens and Bedok Reservoir.
With easier access to coaching programmes, professional paddlers now also have more opportunities to contribute to the future of the sport by nurturing the pipeline of up-and-coming athletes.
“Coaching certs are more accessible now – this allows more of us to take up leadership roles instead of just being athletes. We start from those as young as nine years old. These kids can dream big at a very young age,” said Koh, who is an assistant coach under the academy at the Singapore Sports Hub's Water Sports Centre.
The hope is for more athletes to rise with the tide, such as 22-year-old Georgia Ng, who specialises in kayak sprint events.
“I want to see where I am in terms of my own personal growth and also at the Asian level,” she said. She is setting her sights on next year’s SEA Games in Thailand.
Already, national canoe and kayak coach Bill Lee is looking ahead at upcoming international competitions, including the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
"We will continue to build on performance. First, we try to be the best in Asia, which would lead us to the Asian Games – (we want) to get more boats qualified and get more boats on the podium,” he said.
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Among them are Brandon Ooi, 29, and Daniel Koh, 27, two of the fastest paddlers in the nation who are teaming up in the men's kayak double 500m sprint.
The pair said the stakes are high as the competition is fierce and only one pair will qualify for the Games.
“The Olympic qualifier is not a small race. The countries (competing) in Asia are really strong and we have to do a lot of work to be able to beat them. The pressure is on and we are working really hard to improve every aspect of our race,” the men said.
Team Singapore athletes Brandon Ooi (L) and Daniel Koh (R) speak to CNA during training for the men's kayak double 500m sprint qualifiers.
They added that trust and confidence in each other are crucial under intense pressure during competition.
“In the boat, Brandon is in front and I’m behind. The trust and faith that I put in him to bring us steadily to the finish line is what keeps me focused and in the game during the race,” said Koh.
“Daniel is very strong and has a lot of power in his strokes. My role in the boat is to manage and kind of control that power. 500m is not an all-out sprint, we have to pace ourselves and have that (spurt) at the end,” said Ooi.
As the two are teaming up for the very first time, they have had to train harder to ensure they work perfectly in tandem with each other.
“There are a lot more variables in the doubles. The way each of us paddle is a little bit different (from the other). Each person has his own little things to work on when we paddle together. It's a work in progress, but I think we’re getting better,” said Ooi.
The national team paddlers hope to cross the finish line in under one-and-a-half minutes during the qualifiers from Apr 18 to 21.
Joining them in Tokyo and also vying for spots in the Paris Olympic Games in August will be 33-year-old Lucas Teo in the men's kayak 1000m sprint, and 32-year-old Stephenie Chen in the women's kayak 500m sprint.
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PADDLING UP INTEREST IN THE SPORT
As the quartet trains hard for Paris, the local canoeing and kayaking scene is working to attract more enthusiasts to the sport and nurture a growing pool of talent.
The Singapore Canoe Federation said more people have taken up canoeing and kayaking as a hobby in recent times, with interest nearly doubling over the past three to four years.
“The sport has grown exponentially in recent years, partially due to the pandemic, when everything was closed. No one could travel and so they looked inland at the bodies of water here,” said Nicholas Yap, president of the sport’s national governing body.
More organisations are offering recreational paddling as part of their line-up of activities, including the People’s Association’s PAssion Wave community water sports centres and other ocean clubs in East Coast and Sentosa.
The fraternity hopes to ride that wave to spur more people to take up the sport by building more facilities to make it easier for both recreational paddlers and aspiring professional sportsmen to hop onboard.
"We would like to build more clubs in all the bodies of water in Singapore … and generate that (base of paddlers) into high performance and elite athletes who hopefully get us medals at major games,” said Yap.
NURTURING FUTURE TALENT
The federation is working closely with ActiveSG under a joint Canoe Academy to foster the next generation of paddlers.
It runs programmes across Singapore for those aged between nine and 14 years old at MacRitchie Reservoir, Marina Reservoir, Jurong Lake Gardens and Bedok Reservoir.
With easier access to coaching programmes, professional paddlers now also have more opportunities to contribute to the future of the sport by nurturing the pipeline of up-and-coming athletes.
“Coaching certs are more accessible now – this allows more of us to take up leadership roles instead of just being athletes. We start from those as young as nine years old. These kids can dream big at a very young age,” said Koh, who is an assistant coach under the academy at the Singapore Sports Hub's Water Sports Centre.
The hope is for more athletes to rise with the tide, such as 22-year-old Georgia Ng, who specialises in kayak sprint events.
“I want to see where I am in terms of my own personal growth and also at the Asian level,” she said. She is setting her sights on next year’s SEA Games in Thailand.
Already, national canoe and kayak coach Bill Lee is looking ahead at upcoming international competitions, including the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
"We will continue to build on performance. First, we try to be the best in Asia, which would lead us to the Asian Games – (we want) to get more boats qualified and get more boats on the podium,” he said.
Related:
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