ASEAN Disability Sailing Federation new HQ

by Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia on 17 Jul 2006 Five years ago, Jovin Tan nearly gave up sailing but he persevered and went on to represent Singapore at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.

And now disabled sailors like Jovin will have more support in developing their talent.

The 10 ASEAN countries have come together to form the first federation for disabled sailors.

The ASEAN Disability Sailing Federation is making Singapore its headquarters and hub for the promotion of the sport in the region.

More than 20 delegates and disabled sailors from ASEAN were in Singapore for the inaugural assembly.

Apart from providing technical training, the federation will work to promote the sport in ASEAN.

And athletes like Jovin couldn't be happier, as this means there will be more regattas for them.

He said: 'Each country will benefit because we will exchange sailing skill through competitions and we will have more sparring partners to improve our sailing skill. It's a good opportunity to interact with more sailors around the Asian countries.'

The Singapore Sports Council will help to fund the education and training, and organise competitions.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth & Sports, said: 'Disabled sports in Singapore have come into their own age. You see more and more of our athletes going on to win medals overseas. More importantly, the support structure, the organisation have also moved up a quantum leap.'

He also said that to be able to headquarter the ASEAN Disability Sailing Federation is a 'coup' for Singapore's disabled sailing.

Dr Balakrishnan added: 'Singapore sailing is doing well. I've been told that in the past one month, we have sent 50 sailors overseas to take part in various competitions. We've won four world medals, so overall the sailing scene is bubbling with talent, especially young talent. I'm glad this is occurring both in the able-bodied and the disabled sport scenes. I hope to see more of such development in other sports and then we have truly arrived as a sporting nation.'

The next stage will be to aim to do well in international meets such as the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.